Convulsions with fever of acute onset in school-age children in Benin City, Nigeria.
Of 92 school-age children who had convulsions with fever (CWF) of acute onset, seen in a 1-year period in an emergency room in Benin City, Nigeria, 49 per cent had malaria parasitaemia, 15 per cent bacterial meningitis, 8 per cent focal extracranial infections, and 1 per cent bacteraemia while 27 per cent had acute fever of undetermined origin. The prevalence of meningitis increased with presence of temperature > or = 40 degrees C (P < 0.01), focal seizures (P < 0.05), and rousable coma (P < 0.05). Bacterial meningitis is an important illness in school-age children with CWF, although malaria parasitaemia is the commonest infection.
Akpede
G O
GO
Department of Paediatrics, College of Medical Sciences, University of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
Sykes
R M
RM
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D016920:Meningitis, Bacterial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology; D009549:Nigeria / Q000453:epidemiology; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003294:Seizures, Febrile / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology