Malaria and its treatment in rural villages of Aboh Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria.
We examined the malaria situation among 489 children under 5 years of age in the rural villages of Aboh Mbaise, Nigeria, using a combination of a standard questionnaire technique and laboratory diagnosis to confirm clinical observations. The results show a high prevalence rate of 52.8% for Plasmodium falciparum in this area. The geometric mean parasite density (GMPD) was 19,361.4/mm3. The proportion of children with fever and/or parasitaemia was not related to age, although the numbers in the febrile group appeared to increase with age. Using 37.5 degrees C as the threshold for fever, 48.7% of the heavily infected group (more than 1000/mm3) were afebrile while 51.3% were febrile. High grade temperatures above 38 degrees C were associated with high parasitaemia above 10,000 parasites/mm3. Of the 911 children who died in the area within the last five years, 22.4% died of fever of unknown origin, 39.7% from malaria, 22.5% from convulsion, 10.5% from diarrhoea and 4.6% from cough. Chloroquine is the drug of choice for the treatment of malaria and there were many cases of drug abuse, and use of sub-curative doses prescribed by non-medically qualified staff.
Ejezie
G C
GC
Department of Medical Microbiology, College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Nigeria.
Ezedinachi
E N
EN
Usanga
E A
EA
Gemade
E I
EI
Ikpatt
N W
NW
Alaribe
A A
AA
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002738:Chloroquine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008288:Malaria / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000254:growth & development*; D010965:Plasmodium malariae / Q000254:growth & development*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D002738:Chloroquine