Introduction: Malaria particularly affects children in sub-Saharan African countries. This study aimed to investigate the factors associated with death in cases of severe childhood malaria to better understand the determinants of death in these children. Patients and Methods: This cohort, descriptive and analytical study was conducted from April 1 to August 15, 2015, at the CNHU-HKM pediatric clinic in Cotonou. Recruitment was exhaustive for all patients under 15 years of age who were admitted for severe malaria, as confirmed by thick smear microscopy. Results: Among the 1774 admitted patients, 449 had severe malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum (i.e., a hospital frequency of 25.31%).The age group most affected consisted of children younger than 60 months of age (73%); female predominance was noted. The lethality rate of malaria was 13.1% (n = 59). The factors associated with death were coma (p = 0.032), poor convulsive status epilepticus (p = 0.08) and bacterial co-infection by gram negative bacteria (p = 0.021) with respectively correlations coefficient of 0.003, 3.940 and 2.424. Conclusion: Reduction of the malaria mortality rates in Benin hospitals will depend on appropriate management of poor prognostic factors, such as coma, bacterial co-infection and convulsive illness.
Background: The prevalence of congenital malaria is getting more and more significant in Sub-Saharan Africa where is a malaria-endemic area. This study aimed to identify the clinical and therapeutic features as well as the outcome of congenital malaria in CHUD-B in 2015. Method: It was a cohort and descriptive study with analytical purpose, carried out in the Mother and Child Department which includes the Gynecology & Obstetrics and Pediatric Unit of CHUD-B. The study target population consisted of all the infants born in the CHUD-B as well as their mothers. The main variable was the presence of congenital malaria. The independent variables were those related to clinical, therapeutic features and outcome. Results: In the study, among the 300 newborns registered, 57 carried congenital malaria i.e. a prevalence of 19%. 171 (57.0%) of them were males versus 129 (43.0%) females. Among the 281 mothers involved, 48 presented with malaria in pregnancy i.e. a prevalence of 17.0%.At the end of this research work, the factors associated with congenital malaria were fever in the 3rd quarter and malaria in pregnancy in the mother. Conclusion: Nearly one out of five infants born in the CHUD-B was carrier of congenital malaria and approximately one out six mothers presented with malaria detection during pregnancy. A method based on Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) should be implemented during the diagnosis in order to confirm malaria cases among both newborns and mothers.
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