ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1541751
The Burden and Trends of Infectious Diseases Among Children Aged 14 and Below in China from 1990 to 2021: A Systematic Analysis from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study
Provisionally accepted
- 1The People’s Hospital of Dongxiang, Fuzhou, China
- 2Jiangxi Medical College,Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: Infectious diseases remain one of the leading causes of death among children worldwide. This study aims to analyze the burden and trends of infectious diseases among children aged 0-14 years in China from 1990 to 2021, and evaluate their gender-and age-specific impacts. Methods: This study utilizes data from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2021 to analyze mortality, incidence, disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR), age-standardized incidence rates (ASIR), and age-standardized DALY rates (ASDR) for infectious diseases in Chinese children. Statistical analysis was performed using R and ggplot2. Results: From 1990 to 2021, China observed substantial declines in pediatric infectious disease burdens. Acute hepatitis mortality decreased from 7,349 deaths (95% UI:5,987 -9,059) to 87 (EAPC: -13.78), with a fivefold reduction in ASMR. Enteric infections exhibited the steepest decline: incidence dropped by 86% (EAPC: -6.72), and ASDR fell from 2,257 to 67/100,000. HIV/AIDS deaths rose from 62 to 555 (EAPC:8.28), though post-2018 declines emerged. By 2021, lower respiratory infections remained the leading cause of death (ASMR:5.11/100,000), while upper respiratory infections had the highest incidence. Females showed faster reductions in enteric (EAPC:-7.44 vs. -6.20) and lower respiratory infections (EAPC:-10.39 vs. -9.76). Children under 5 faced the highest burden, particularly for lower respiratory infections (ASMR:13.02/100,000).. Conclusion: The overall burden of infectious diseases among children in China has declined, especially for enteric infections and acute hepatitis. The burden of pediatric HIV/AIDS has also decreased in recent years, though adolescent HIV/AIDS education remains a key area of concern. Children under 5 continue to represent the highest burden group. While China's infectious disease control measures and immunization programs have played a vital role, further strengthening policies to address ongoing challenges is essential for effectively reducing the burden of infectious diseases and achieving the Healthy China 2030 goals.
Keywords: Children, infectious diseases, Global Burden of Disease (GBD), Age-specific Burden, hiv/aids
Received: 08 Dec 2024; Accepted: 21 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Miao, Le and Miao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Chun Guo Miao, The People’s Hospital of Dongxiang, Fuzhou, China
Gui Rong Le, The People’s Hospital of Dongxiang, Fuzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.