Malaria Burden and Trend Among Clients Seeking Healthcare in the Western Region: A 4-Year Retrospective Study at the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipal Hospital, Ghana

Deku, John Gameli; Lokpo, Sylvester Yao; Kye-Amoah, Kenneth Kwame; Orish, Verner N.; Ussher, Francis Abeku; Esson, Joseph; Aduko, Romeo Asumbasiya; Dakorah, Mavis Puopelle; Osei-Yeboah, James

doi:10.2174/1874285801812010404

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…It is very likely that this finding was as PLOS GLOBAL PUBLIC HEALTH result of the reduced health seeking behaviour caused by fear of the pandemic-which started in early March in Ghana, causing reduced hospital visits and subsequent admission rates [5,9,17]. However, it is important to note that despite the decline in malaria admission in 2020, the trend almost mimicked the typical seasonal pattern, with a slight increase in admissions in the rainy season (April to July) and a dip in the dry season (August), and an increase in the second rainy season (September to October) followed by a drop in the next cycle of the dry season [25,26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on complicated malaria admissions and outcomes in the paediatric Ho Teaching Hospital of the Volta Region of Ghana

Orish

Akake

Lokpo

et al. 2022

PLOS Glob Public Health

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Since Ghana recorded its first cases of COVID-19 in early March 2020, healthcare delivery in the country has been hugely affected by the pandemic. Malaria continues to be an important public health problem in terms of morbidity and mortality among children, and it is responsible for significant hospital visits and admission. It is likely that, as with other illnesses, the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted health seeking behaviour, hospital visits, and admissions of malaria among the paediatric population in Ghana. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the admissions and outcome of complicated malaria in the Ho Teaching Hospital of the Volta Region of Ghana. The medical records of children admitted for complicated malaria (cerebral and severe malaria) from 2016 to 2020, were obtained from the admission records of the children. Both demographics and clinical details were collected, and data was analysed using SPSS version 25 statistical software. The yearly differences in the trend and proportions of complicated malaria admissions were performed using rate comparison analysis and Pearson chi-square was used to assess the association between the various demographic factors and yearly admission rates. Clopper-Pearson test statistic was employed to determine the 95% confidence intervals of outcome variables of interest. The year 2020 had the lowest admission for complicated malaria (149, 11.5%; 95% CI: 9.7-13.5) but proportionally had, more cases of cerebral malaria (25, 16.8%; 95% CI: 10.9-24.8), and more deaths (6, 4.0%; 95% CI: 1.5-8.8), compared to the years under review. Children admitted in 2020 had the shortest mean stay on admission (4.34 ±2.48, p<0.001). More studies are needed to further elucidate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the health of children in malaria endemic areas.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on complicated malaria admissions and outcomes in the paediatric Ho Teaching Hospital of the Volta Region of Ghana

Orish

Akake

Lokpo

et al. 2022

PLOS Glob Public Health

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“…In 2018, notable increases in malaria cases were observed in Ghana (8%) and Nigeria (5%) [ 4 ]. In Ghana, within the first quarter of 2017, about 2.3 million suspected malaria cases were recorded at the out-patient department of one municipal hospital, representing an increase of 1.2% over the same period in 2016 [ 5 ]. One major problem facing the prevention and control of malaria in Ghana is delay in health-seeking due to wrong perceptions of the disease [ 5 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Ghana, within the first quarter of 2017, about 2.3 million suspected malaria cases were recorded at the out-patient department of one municipal hospital, representing an increase of 1.2% over the same period in 2016 [ 5 ]. One major problem facing the prevention and control of malaria in Ghana is delay in health-seeking due to wrong perceptions of the disease [ 5 ]. The socio-economic aspects of a population are known to contribute significantly to the epidemiology and control of parasitic diseases [ 6 ], such as Plasmodium infection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unravelling the Perspectives of Day and Night Traders in Selected Markets within a Sub-Saharan African City with a Malaria Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Survey

Tetteh-Quarcoo

Dayie

Adutwum-Ofosu

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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Background: Malaria is still endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, with a high disease burden. Misconceptions about malaria contribute to poor attitudes and practices, further increasing the burden in endemic countries. Studies have examined the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of malaria among different populations. However, there seems to be no available literature reporting on the perspectives of day and night market traders. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on malaria KAP with a focus on day and night market traders. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study involving day and night market traders in 10 selected markets within the Greater Accra Region of Ghana was carried out. Data were collected from consenting respondents using a structured questionnaire. Results: Of the 760 respondents (33.3% (n = 253) night and 66.7% (n = 507) day traders) interviewed, there was no significant difference between the day and night market traders in terms of malaria KAP. Although the market traders had an overall moderate knowledge (54.0% of the day traders and 56.5% of the night traders), misconceptions about malaria (especially that it could be caused by exposure to the sun) still existed among the traders. Moreover, the majority of the traders who demonstrated high knowledge (43.98%, n = 250) did not always take laboratory tests to confirm their suspicion, indicating poor attitude. Furthermore, the market traders’ choice of drug for malaria treatment (p = 0.001) and preferred malaria treatment type (orthodox or herbal) (p = 0.005) were significantly associated with their knowledge level. Conclusions: Despite the observation that no significant difference in KAP exists between day and night market traders, appropriate health education programs and interventions still need to be directed at misconceptions, poor attitudes, and poor practices revealed by this study. This will ultimately help in the prevention and control of malaria in Ghana, and globally.

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“…Th ere was higher prevalence of malaria among the febrile patients that have fever, headache and weakness and statistically, there is relationship between malaria weakness and abdominal pain in the study area. Although, malaria infection is associated with a broad spectrum of clinical manifestations [36], symptoms presented by febrile patients in this study could be used as diagnostic measure and prescription for prophylactic treatment of malaria in the study area. Th ere was higher prevalence of malaria with higher mean parasite load among the febrile patients that have taken non-recommended antimalarial drug before visiting the hospital compared with those that have not.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Prevalence of Malaria among Febrile Patients attending Government Hospitals in Ondo State, South-West Nigeria

F.O¹,

Ko²

2020

American J Epidemiol Public Health

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Background: The use of malaria infection prevalence among febrile patients is a valuable epidemiological surveillance tool. In this study, a cross sectional study was conducted among febrile patients in selected government Hospitals in Ondo State for malaria prevalence. Results: Plasmodium falciparum is the only encountered malaria parasite with prevalence values of 82.72% (426/515) and 80.19% (413/515) were obtained for microscopy and RDTs respectively. The prevalence of malaria among the males (86.59%) was higher than the females (80.65%), all age groups in this study were vulnerable with highest infection rate of 89.66% among age group 11-20 years. The parasites densities ranged between 209 and 22310 parasites/μl with a mean parasitaemia of 5522.17 ± 183.30 parasites/μl. The prevalence of malaria among the febrile participants that have taken antimalarial drug before visiting the hospital is 82.94% (389/469) with the mean parasitaemia of 4615.21 ± 188.14 parasites/μl while among the participants that have taken herbs before visiting the hospital the prevalence is 85.03% (142/167) with the mean parasitaemia of 4913.81 ± 330.20 parasites/μl. Conclusion: There was high prevalence of malaria among febrile patients and this fi nding will help improve the diagnosis and treatment of other febrile (non-malaria) infections, limit antimalarial usage to only malaria parasite-based test true positives and serve as a guide to combat malaria drug resistance in the study area.

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Malaria Burden and Trend Among Clients Seeking Healthcare in the Western Region: A 4-Year Retrospective Study at the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipal Hospital, Ghana

Cited by 7 publications

References 23 publications

Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on complicated malaria admissions and outcomes in the paediatric Ho Teaching Hospital of the Volta Region of Ghana

Evaluating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on complicated malaria admissions and outcomes in the paediatric Ho Teaching Hospital of the Volta Region of Ghana

Unravelling the Perspectives of Day and Night Traders in Selected Markets within a Sub-Saharan African City with a Malaria Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Survey

Prevalence of Malaria among Febrile Patients attending Government Hospitals in Ondo State, South-West Nigeria

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