Association of malarial parasitaemia with dehydrating diarrhoea in Nigerian children.

Records of 402 children--216 (53.7%) males and 186 (46.3%) females--aged 1-36 month(s), admitted to the Diarrhoea Treatment and Training Unit of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin city, Nigeria, during July 1993-June 1996, were reviewed to document the relationship between dehydration and malaria parasitaemia. There was a significant association between severity of dehydration and malaria parasitaemia (p < 0.0001). Association of parasitaemia (p < 0.006) with dehydration (p < 0.0001) was significantly more marked in patients with acute watery diarrhoea than in those with persistent and bloody diarrhoea. Parasitaemia was demonstrated in 50.5% of those not initially suspected to have malaria. Parasitaemia was also significantly associated with fever (p < 0.001) and fever coexisting with vomiting (p < 0.01). The prevalence of malaria-associated diarrhoea was 61.7%. More infants (75.6%) than older children had diarrhoea. It was concluded that the prevalence of malaria-associated diarrhoea was high and that children with dehydration are more likely to manifest malaria parasitaemia.

HBS-Antigenaemia in in- and outpatient children at University of Benin Teaching Hospital

Using the Elisa method; 437 children of both sexes and aged 2 months to 15 years; who had no signs suggestive of hepatitis B virus infection were screened for the presence of HBsAg in their remaining 170; were admitted into the ward on account of illness that were not suggestive of hepatitis. (10.88of all the children screened were positive for HBsAg. 13.5of those who were admitted into the ward were HBsAg positive. Nine percent of the outpatients study group who were generally less ill than the admitted patients; were HBsAg positive. There were no statistically significant difference in HBs-Antigenaemia in both groups of children