Severe falciparum malaria in young children of the Kassena-Nankana district of northern Ghana.

Abstract

STUDY DESIGN:

Severe falciparum malaria in children was studied as part of the characterization of the Kassena-Nankana District Ghana for future malaria vaccine trials. Children aged 6-59 months with diagnosis suggestive of acute disease were characterized using the standard WHO definition for severe malaria.

RESULTS:

Of the total children screened, 45.2% (868/1921) satisfied the criteria for severe malaria. Estimated incidence of severe malaria was 3.4% (range: 0.4-8.3%) cases per year. The disease incidence was seasonal: 560 cases per year, of which 70.4% occurred during the wet season (June-October). The main manifestations were severe anaemia (36.5%); prolonged or multiple convulsions (21.6%); respiratory distress (24.4%) and cerebral malaria (5.4%). Others were hyperpyrexia (11.1%); hyperparasitaemia (18.5%); hyperlactaemia (33.4%); and hypoglycaemia (3.2%). The frequency of severe anaemia was 39.8% in children of six to 24 months of age and 25.9% in children of 25-60 months of age. More children (8.7%) in the 25-60 months age group had cerebral malaria compared with 4.4% in the 6-24 months age group. The overall case fatality ratio was 3.5%. Cerebral malaria and hyperlactataemia were the significant risk factors associated with death. Severe anaemia, though a major presentation, was not significantly associated with risk of death.

CONCLUSION:

Severe malaria is a frequent and seasonal childhood disease in northern Ghana and maybe an adequate endpoint for future malaria vaccine trials.

• Authors: Abraham R Oduro, Kwadwo A Koram, William Rogers, Frank Atuguba, Patrick Ansah, Thomas Anyorigiya, Akosua Ansah, Francis Anto, Nathan Mensah, Abraham Hodgson, Francis Nkrumah
• Journal: Malaria journal (Malar J) Vol. 6 Pg. 96 (Jul 27 2007) ISSN: 1475-2875 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 17662142 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural)

Topics

• Age Factors
• Analysis of Variance
• Anemia (etiology, mortality)
• Animals
• Child, Preschool
• Ghana (epidemiology)
• Humans
• Incidence
• Infant
• Malaria, Cerebral (complications, epidemiology, mortality)
• Malaria, Falciparum (complications, epidemiology)
• Prognosis
• Respiration Disorders (etiology, mortality)
• Risk Factors
• Seasons
• Survival Rate