title: Onyalai at Rundu, Namibia 1981-1988: age, sex, morbidity, mortality and seasonal variation of 612 hospitalized patients.
abstract: Of 51,263 admissions to Rundu State Hospital in Namibia between 1981 and 1988, 612 (1.19%) were diagnosed as onyalai. The annual incidence varied between 0.96% and 1.66% of all admissions. The female to male ratio was 3:2. The mean age at presentation was 24.8 years (range 6 months to 80 years) and the mean hospital stay (and duration of clinical bleeding) for the years 1981 to 1982 and 1985 to 1988 was 7.68 d (range 1-38 d). Although the highest number of cases occurred during the months March, April and May a statistically significant monthly variation was not found. The treatment policy of commencing intravenous fluid on admission and a blood transfusion whenever the haemoglobin dropped below 10 g/dl in patients with active bleeding was associated with a mortality rate of 2.78% compared to 9.8% in cases recorded up to 1981.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Tygerberg Hospital, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Hesseling
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009276:Namibia / Q000453:epidemiology; D011696:Purpura, Thrombocytopenic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D012737:Sex Factors