Prevalence, Clinical Features and Outcome of Neonatal Malaria in Two Major Hospitals in Jos, North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria was thought to be rare in neonates. However, recent studies report increasing prevalence in neonates. Clinical features of neonatal malaria have also not been adequately reported. This study was undertaken to assess the prevalence, clinical features and outcome of malaria in neonates admitted into two tertiary hospitals in Jos, Plateau State. All consecutive neonates aged 0 -28 days admitted into the neonatal units of Jos University Teaching Hospital and Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos were recruited into the study. Giemsa stained blood films of the neonates were examined by trained microscopists. Neonates with malaria had presenting clinical features recorded and treated with amodiaquine (1 st line) and quinine (2 nd line). Clinical features and parasitaemia were monitored for 14 days for outcome. Of the 301 neonates enrolled, 16 had malaria parasitaemia giving a prevalence of 5.3%. Congenital malaria accounted for 87.5% of cases of neonatal malaria. Plasmodium falciparum mono-infection was responsible for all the cases of malaria. ITN use in pregnancy offered some protection against neonatal malaria (CI = 0.2 -0.7). The median parasite density was 255 (72, 385) parasites/µl. Fever was significantly present in 10 (66.7%) of the cases (p = 0.03). Fifteen of the 16 neonates had clinical and parasitological cure on treatment with amodiaquine. One treatment failure had cure after retreatment with quinine. There was no mortality in all 16 neonates treated for malaria. Malaria is not rare in neonates on admission in Jos. Fever is the commonest clinical feature of neonatal malaria. Amodiaquine provided effective treatment of malaria in neonates in Jos.

Clinical Profile and Short-Term Outcome of Malaria in Febrile Under-Five Children in a Secondary Health Facility

“…[17] The prevalence of neonatal malaria in the current study was 60.4% (29/48); this is comparable to 43.7% in Port Harcourt, Nigeria [23] but higher than figures from Cameroon (17.5%), [24] Gambia (13.3%), [20] and Jos, Nigeria (5.3%). [25] Several studies have discussed the impact of seasonality and diagnostic method on reported prevalence rates. [18,26,27] The current study was carried out partly during dry and partially wet seasons, suggesting the endemicity of the infection, and the confirmation of positivity for the malaria parasite was also done by DNA PCR.…”