Conference abstract
Malaria deaths and associated factors in children under 5 in a pediatric hospital in Angola
Pan African Medical Journal - Conference Proceedings. 2017:3(45).20
Oct 2017.
doi: 10.11604/pamj-cp.2017.3.45.139
Archived on: 20 Oct 2017
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Keywords: Malaria, parasitemia, children under 5-year old
Oral presentation
Malaria deaths and associated factors in children under 5 in a pediatric hospital in Angola
Maria das Dores Pedro Nsuka1,&, Feio Raul Jorge1, Pires Joao1
1FELTP-University Agostinho Neto of Angola, Angola
&Corresponding author
Maria das Dores Pedro Nsuka, FELTP-University Agostinho Neto of Angola, Angola
Introduction: malaria is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in Angola, with more than 3 million cases being reported in 2015, amongst which 5714 died, mostly children at younger ages. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with mortality by malaria in children under 5-year old that were admitted to a tertiary pediatric hospital in the city of Luanda, Angola during the first quarter of 2016.
Methods: a case control study was conducted with the proportion of 1 case for 2 controls, with no matching. A case was defined as a child under the age of 5 admitted with a laboratory confirmed diagnosis of malaria, who died. The control was defined as a child admitted with a laboratory confirmed diagnosis of malaria that survived. A total of 60 cases for 120 controls were enrolled. Data collection was performed from the clinical records after the parents signed the informed consent form. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify associated factors with malaria mortality. Significance level was set at p < 0.05 for all hypothesis tests.
Results: others cases, 56.7% were male, whereas 65,0 of the controls were male; 51.7% of the cases belonged to the age group of 48 to 60 months, whereas 51.5% from the control belonged to that same age group, 20.8% resided in Luanda municipality. The factor associated with malaria death were seizures [OR = 3.72; (CI 95%- 1.50-9.57)]; jaundice [OR = 3.23; CI 95%- 1.54-6.87)]; high parasitaemia (> 100000p/mm3), [OR = 2.73; CI 95%- 1.36-5.52)].
Conclusion: malaria mortality in children under five is still a significant public health problem in the pediatric hospitals of Angola. Clinicians should remain vigilant for severity signs such as seizures, jaundice and high parasitaemia, which were significantly linked with higher mortality.
