Burden of Malaria in Children Presenting with Anaemia at Ola During’s Children’s Hospital in Freetown Sierra Leone

Abstract

Malaria is a serious public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa, where it affects entire populations especially children. Indeed over 80% of the worldwide cases of malaria occur in Africa. Anemia secondary to malaria is much more common in younger children, with high mortality rates. Malaria is endemic throughout Sierra Leone and it is often associated with haemoglobin level below 8.0 grams per decilitre in malaria-endemic regions such as Sierra Leone. Sixteen percent of children age 6-59 months in Sierra Leone had a haemoglobin count lower than 8.0 g/dl. The aim of this study was to describe the burden of malaria in children aged one to five years presenting with Anaemia at Ola During children's Hospital (ODCH) in Freetown Sierra Leone. This study was a hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study, carried out over a period of two months. Data obtained from the study was analyzed using descriptive statistics, where discrete variables were summarized using frequencies and percentages; continuous variables were summarized using measures of central tendency such as mean, median, mode and standard deviation; while measures of association were analyzed using chi square. Eighty-eight percent of the children in this study had anaemia, mean hemoglobin concentration of enrolled children was 6.9g/dl Fifty-seven-point two percent of the study population had positive blood slide for malaria and the only plasmodium specie detected was plasmodium falciparum. Only 53% of the study population slept under insecticide treated bed nets Parents and caregivers with no formal education were as much as 11.8%. A little over a quarter of the parents/caregivers earned less than 200,000leones which is equivalent to < 50USD.