Evaluation of the Bacterial Profile and Pathogenicity in Concomitant Bacteremia with Malaria among Children in Ekiti State

Prevalence of Concomitant Bacteria among malaria Patients attending Government Hospitals in Ondo State, South-West Nigeria

“…The report of malaria prevalence among febrile patience in the study area was in our previous study [4]. Previous studies in Nigeria reported that there was no association between malaria and concomitant bacteria [8,19] and Kenya [20]. The significant association reported in this study may be due to the differences in the study population as the previous studies examined children and other out patients but this study only focused on the febrile population.…”

“…Prevalence of concomitant bacteria among febrile malaria patients attending Government hospital in Ondo state in relation to marital status is revealed in Figure 9. The prevalence of concomitant bacteria in single (109), married (267), divorced (25), widowed (17) and widower (8) were 14/109(12.84%), 56/267(20.97%), 5/25(20.00), 7/17(41.18%) and 3/8(37.5%) respectively. Among the singles, 12/109 (11.01%) and 2/109(1.83%) had bacterial load of 1-100 and 101-200 cfu/ml respectively, married with bacterial load of 1-100, 101-200 and >200 were 50/267(18.73%), 4/267(1.50%) and 2/267(0.75%) respectively while 5/17(29.41%) and 2/17(11.76%) of the widowed had bacterial load of 1-100 and >200 cfu/ml respectively.…”

“…Evidence points to malaria infections as increasing the chance of systematic bacterial infections, which may raise mortality rates in cases of malaria. Studies from Africa demonstrate that individuals in malaria-hostile zones experience increased susceptibility to bacteremia, owing to malaria [8,9] . Moreover, those in high malaria-prevalence zones routinely face other infectious agents, making concomitant infections a norm rather than an exception.…”

“…In cases of P. falciparum malaria, non-typhoidal Salmonella species (NTS), other Gramnegative bacteria [13,14], Enterobacteria, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Streptococcus pyogenes, and Haemophilus influenza [15,16] are commonly found co-infecting with malaria. Patients co-infected with these bacteria and malaria have higher mortality rates than those infected with malaria alone [8,17]. This association is particularly strong in severe malarial anemia cases [12].…”

“…Differentiating between bacterial coinfections and malaria is a challenge for clinicians in malaria cases and requires proper laboratory tests. Diagnosis is often based solely on symptoms because it can be difficult to distinguish between the two conditions [8]. As a result, physicians must prioritize tracking blood cultures of malaria patients to ensure timely and accurate treatment.…”