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Out of 5031 children admitted to S.N. Hospital, Agra during one year, there were 716 cases (14.2%) of accidents. Most cases were in the age group of 4-9 years; boys were affected more commonly than girls. The maximum cases occurred due to fall (44.4%), followed by road traffic accidents (26.4%) and burns (11.5%). The consequences in terms of morbidity and mortality was also high. Kerosene oil ingestion was the most common encountered form of poisoning. Incriminating environmental factors could be identified in 51.8% cases and included poorly protected roofs (23.7%), poor state of roads (10.0%), defective vehicles (7.5%), and houses opening directly on the streets (7.3%). More than half of the accidents took place at home (58.7%), followed by those on streets (30.3%) or at farmhouses (57%). Injuries caused by sharp and blunt objects were more common in villages. Only 21.4% children had received first aid, often by the family, before reaching the hospital. The overall mortality rate was 53.1/1000, but in cases of burns the mortality was (146.3/1000). This study suggests that falls and traffic accidents have the highest incidence and mortality in childhood accidents and modification of the home environment can be an effective measure to prevent such incidents.

This study was designed to identify biosocial factors that contribute to India's high dropout rate for completion of the oral polio vaccine series. The study sample included the 2027 children registered in 1983-84 at an immunization clinic in Agra. At the time of the 1st dose, parents were educated about the importance of completing the series. 683 of the children were not returned for the 3rd dose, for a dropout rate of 33.7%. The majority of dropouts (42.6%) were clustered in the 3-6 month age group. There was a higher but nonsignificant dropout rate in females (35.4%) than in males (32.6%). The dropout rate was lowest among children of birth order 1 (23.2%) and highest in birth order 5 (72.1%). There was a statistically significant association between dropout rates and maternal occupational status; only 3.8% of children whose mothers were engaged in service occupations failed to complete the immunization series compared with 34.6% of those whose mothers were housewives. In addition, there was a significant association with paternal occupation. The maximum number of dropouts was noted among children whose fathers were laborers (51.2%) and the lowest rate was found among children of men in service occupations (23.6%). Finally, there was a significant inverse relationship between parental education and dropout rates. This relationship was most pronounced for maternal educational status. The dropout rate was only 5% in children whose mothers were educated at the high school level and above compared with 14% in children whose father's education was at this level.