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Interaction between acute diarrhoea and falciparum malaria in Nigerian children
O Sodeinde1, A A Adeyemo, R A Gbadegesin
1Department of Paediatrics, University College Hospital, P.M.B., Ibadan, Nigeria.
Insights
This study found no direct link between cerebral malaria and diarrhea prevalence in Nigerian children. However, malarial parasites were more common in dehydrated diarrhea patients, suggesting a possible association in severe cases.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Infectious Diseases
- Public Health
Background:
- Malaria and diarrhea are significant public health issues in developing nations.
- Research on the interaction between malaria and diarrhea is limited.
- Understanding this interaction is crucial for effective public health strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the interaction between malaria and diarrhea in children in Nigeria.
- To determine if cerebral malaria is associated with an altered prevalence of diarrhea.
- To assess the prevalence of malarial parasitaemia in children with diarrhea.
Main Methods:
- A comparative study was conducted in two tertiary health facilities in Nigeria.
- Prevalence of diarrhea was compared between cerebral malaria patients and other admissions.
- Prevalence of malarial parasitaemia was assessed in children with diarrhea and compared to controls.
Main Results:
- No significant difference in diarrhea prevalence was observed between cerebral malaria patients and other patient groups in either location.
- The prevalence of malarial parasitaemia was not significantly different between children with diarrhea and controls.
- Malarial parasitaemia was significantly more common in dehydrated children with diarrhea compared to well-hydrated children.
Conclusions:
- Cerebral malaria does not appear to be associated with an increased or decreased prevalence of diarrhea.
- Malarial parasitaemia in children with acute diarrhea seems coincidental, but may be more frequent in dehydrated cases.
- Further research may be needed to explore the specific relationship in dehydrated pediatric patients.
Abstract:
Although both malaria and diarrhoea are major public health problems in developing countries, and separately each has been the subject of intense research, few studies have investigated the interaction between these two conditions. The interaction between diarrhoea and malaria among children aged 4 months to 12 years in two tertiary health-care facilities, University College Hospital, Ibadan, and Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria was studied. In Ibadan, the prevalence of diarrhoea among the cerebral malaria patients on admission as 11.7% (7/60) compared to 9.3% (215/2312) among other admissions in 1990 (chi square = 0.16; p = 0.6913). Similarly, no significant difference in the prevalence of diarrhoea was found between the cerebral malaria patients (14.3%) and other patients (16.1%) seen in Lagos in 1992 (chi square = 0.06, p = 0.81). Thus, cerebral malaria does not seem to be associated with an increased or decreased prevalence of diarrhoea when compared with other conditions. The prevalence of malarial parasitaemia among the 554 diarrhoea patients studied in Ibadan during 1993-1994 was 13.6% compared with 17.9% among the 347 controls (chi square = 3.75, p = 0.053). However, of the children with diarrhoea, malarial parasitaemia was more common among the dehydrated patients (25.4%) than among the well-hydrated patients (11.6%) (chi square = 8.11, p = 0.004). These data suggest that diarrhoea is merely coincidental in severe malaria and conversely, malarial parasitaemia is similarly coincidental in children with acute diarrhoea, although it may be more frequent among dehydrated diarrhoea patients than well-hydrated ones.