Prevalence of Uncomplicated Malaria in a Paediatrics Outpatient Department of a Tertiary Health Institution in Sokoto; Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Background: Malaria remains one of the major tropical health challenges in the world today. It accounts for more than 80of estimated 1.5 - 3 million deaths of children annually especially those aged 5 years and below. There is paucity of data on the prevalence of uncomplicated malaria in children in Sokoto. Objectives: To determine the prevalence of uncomplicated malaria in children aged 0 - 15 years. Methods: The health registers and outpatient cards of children aged 0 - 15 years that presented to the Paediatrics Outpatient Department/Clinic of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital; Sokoto; Nigeria; between 1st June 2007 and 31st May 2009 were studied retrospectively. Information of the patients with regards to their age; gender; presenting features; date of presentation at the clinic; and diagnosis of malaria (clinical and parasitological) were extracted from the registers and case records and analyzed. Results: During the study period; a total of 15;909 children aged 0 - 15 years were seen in our clinic. Of this number; 7;224 had clinical and parasitological diagnosis of uncomplicated malaria giving a prevalence rate of 45.4.those aged 5 years and below were 5;782 (49.6) while the remaining 1;442 (34.0) were aged above 5 years. Males were 4;068 (56.3) while the females were 3;156 (43.7) with M F ratio of 1.31. The main presenting symptoms were fever (100); reduced appetite (80.5); reduced activity (75) and chills (74). The main presenting signs were pyrexia (84.5); splenomegaly (38) and hepatomegaly (14). Malaria was the leading cause of paediatrics outpatient clinic attendance followed by acute respiratory infection and diarrhoeal disease. Though malaria occurred throughout the year; majority of the cases were seen during the raining and early dry reasons. Conclusion: Malaria is partly meso-endemic and hyper endemic in the studied area and children aged 5-years and below are the most susceptible. It is therefore; recommended that more efforts should be put in place towards malaria control and prevention particularly in this age group