Indicators of life-threatening malaria in African children

BACKGROUND: About 90 percent of the deaths from malaria are in African children, but criteria to guide the recognition and management of severe malaria have not been validated in them.

METHODS: We conducted a prospective study of all children admitted to the pediatric ward of a Kenyan district hospital with a primary diagnosis of malaria. We calculated the frequency and mortality rate for each of the clinical and laboratory criteria in the current World Health Organization (WHO) definition of severe malaria, and then used logistic-regression analysis to identify the variables with the greatest prognostic value.

RESULTS: We studied 1844 children (mean age, 26.4 months) with a primary diagnosis of malaria. Not included were 18 children who died on arrival and 4 who died of other causes. The mortality rate was 3.5 percent (95 percent confidence interval, 2.7 to 4.3 percent), and 84 percent of the deaths occurred within 24 hours of admission. Logistic-regression analysis identified four key prognostic indicators: impaired consciousness (relative risk, 3.3; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.6 to 7.0), respiratory distress (relative risk, 3.9; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.0 to 7.7), hypoglycemia (relative risk, 3.3; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.6 to 6.7), and jaundice (relative risk, 2.6; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.1 to 6.3). Of the 64 children who died, 54 were among those with impaired consciousness (n = 336; case fatality rate, 11.9 percent) or respiratory distress (n = 251; case fatality rate, 13.9 percent), or both. Hence, this simple bedside index identified 84.4 percent of the fatal cases, as compared with the 79.7 percent identified by the current WHO criteria.

CONCLUSIONS: In African children with malaria, the presence of impaired consciousness or respiratory distress can identify those at high risk for death.

Errataetall:

CommentIn: N Engl J Med. 1995 Oct 12;333(15):1011; author reply 1012. - PMID 7666907

Medienart:

Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

1995

Erschienen:

1995

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:332

Enthalten in:

The New England journal of medicine - 332(1995), 21 vom: 25. Mai, Seite 1399-404

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Marsh, K [VerfasserIn]
Forster, D [VerfasserIn]
Waruiru, C [VerfasserIn]
Mwangi, I [VerfasserIn]
Winstanley, M [VerfasserIn]
Marsh, V [VerfasserIn]
Newton, C [VerfasserIn]
Winstanley, P [VerfasserIn]
Warn, P [VerfasserIn]
Peshu, N [VerfasserIn]

Themen:

Africa
Africa South Of The Sahara
Age Factors
Child
Child Mortality
Demographic Factors
Developing Countries
Diseases
Eastern Africa
English Speaking Africa
Examinations And Diagnoses
Journal Article
Kenya
Malaria
Mortality
Parasitic Diseases
Physical Examinations And Diagnoses
Population
Population Characteristics
Population Dynamics
Research Report
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Rural Population
Signs And Symptoms
Youth

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 25.05.1995

Date Revised 30.03.2022

published: Print

CommentIn: N Engl J Med. 1995 Oct 12;333(15):1011; author reply 1012. - PMID 7666907

Citation Status MEDLINE

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM076995488