The present study attempts first to determine the level and pattern of infectious childhood diseases among children living under different economic conditions by their background characteristics. It seeks second to examine the influence of household economic conditions on the incidence of infectious childhood diseases after controlling a number of plausible spatial, demographic and sociocultural variables that may affect the incidence of infectious childhood diseases. The hypothesis here is that economic inequality is one of the most important determinants in explaining the high prevalence of infectious childhood diseases in India. (excerpt)