Malaria: Prevalence and related factors in children at Aba, Southeast Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Childhood malaria has remained a major public health burden. It severely affects children aged under-5 years, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Curbing the prevalence of malaria begins with determining the prevalence and related factors of the disease in the community. Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence and related factors of malaria in children at Aba, Southeast Nigeria. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 275 case files of children admitted with malaria in the Department of Paediatrics of the Abia State University Teaching Hospital from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2016, were analyzed. Results: During the study period, among the 440 overall admission, 275 children were diagnosed with malaria. The prevalence of malaria in our study was 62.5%. The male:female ratio was 1:1.2. We found, 234 (85.1%) children were <5 years of age, 23 (8.2%) belonged to the age group of 5-11 years, and 18 (6.7%) were aged between >11 and 16 years. The highest prevalence of malaria 40 (14.4%) occurred in September while the least 10 (3.6%) occurred in April. Around 247 (89.8%) patients were discharged home, 18 (6.5%) patients succumbed to death, and 6 (2.1%) patients were discharged against medical advice. Conclusion: The prevalence and mortality rates of malaria are high. To curb the trend of this disease, good environmental sanitation, prevention of the anophelene mosquito blood meal on humans, and early diagnosis and treatment of malaria should all be enhanced.

Risk Factors of Neonatal Jaundice at Al Kadhimiya Pediatrics Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq

“…exclusive breastfeeding has historically been an important predictor for jaundice, the mechanism behind the association is not well understood [16]. This result is in agreement with a study from Nigeria which had shown that (90.4%) of the jaundiced neonates were exclusively breastfed [5]. What it is in breast milk that causes excessive jaundice is not known but unsaturated fatty acids or a lipase which inhibits glucuronyl transferase have been suspected [17].…”

“…In this study the sample size was (160), a study from Nigeria was also resulted in the same sample size (N=160) [5]. In our study, the most common etiological factor for neonatal jaundice was undetermined (51.9%).…”

“…A study from Nigeria has concluded that the leading etiological factors of neonatal jaundice were septicemia (32.5%) and prematurity (17.5%) [5]. Another study from Nigeria had shown that ABO incompatibility and low birth weight were major predisposing/etiologic factors [13].…”

Malaria Infection among Under- Fives and Mothers: A Retrospective Study at Model Primary Health Centre, Ozuoba, Rivers State, Nigeria

“…The average annual infection rate recorded the lowest infection rate in 2018 (44.4%) which was lower than the 47.1% reported in Jigawa State [12] but higher than the 20.5% reported in North Ethiopia [13]. However, the infection rate in 2017 was higher than 21% reported in South Ethiopia [14]. In 2020, the overall infection rate was lower than 85.1% reported in Aba, Abia State [15].…”

Awareness and Knowledge Level of Puerperal Mothers on Neonatal Jaundice: A Qualitative Study in Northern Ghana

“…This part of the study findings indicating most mothers have taken the decision themselves to send the sick babies to the hospital without the husband's approval showed most societies are more concerned about women's empowerment in health decision-making now than previously when most healthcare decisions were often reported to have been taken by the husband. However, results still showed that some of the mother's decision to seek healthcare services for the baby was either taken by the mother-in-law or the husband, and this sometimes led to a delay in health decision-making [36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. This still calls for more advocacy to educate and empower women to make major healthcare decisions to help ensure the immediate administration of healthcare interventions to save lives.…”