Ejezie G C, Ezedinachi E N
Department of Medical Microbiology, College of Medical Sciences, University of Calabar, Nigeria.
Trop Geogr Med. 1992 Jan;44(1-2):97-101.
1,188 children under 10 years of age who attended the children's Emergency Clinic were examined from January to December 1988. Their axillary temperatures were recorded and thick and thin blood smears made to determine the malaria prevalence rate and the parasite density. The results show a high prevalence rate (44.8%) for malaria and this was stable throughout the year. The number of subjects with parasite densities of 100,000/mm3 and over, increased progressively with increase in body temperature such that 74.9% of the parasitemic subjects had high grade temperatures of 38 degrees C and over, while only 11.8% had moderate temperatures of 37.5-37.9 degrees C. The ratio of parasitemic afebrile to parasitemic febrile patients was in the order of 1:6, suggesting that parasitaemia is usually accompanied by fever. There was a steady rise in temperature with parasite density up to 39.5 degrees C, when further increase in parasite density apparently caused no further rise in temperature, suggesting a self-protective efficient feed back mechanism.
1988年1月至12月期间，对1188名到儿童急诊诊所就诊的10岁以下儿童进行了检查。记录了他们的腋窝温度，并制作了厚薄血涂片以确定疟疾患病率和寄生虫密度。结果显示疟疾患病率很高（44.8%），且全年稳定。寄生虫密度达到100,000/mm³及以上的受试者数量随着体温升高而逐渐增加，因此74.9%的寄生虫血症受试者体温高达38摄氏度及以上，而只有11.8%的受试者体温为37.5 - 37.9摄氏度。寄生虫血症无发热患者与寄生虫血症发热患者的比例约为1:6，这表明寄生虫血症通常伴有发热。随着寄生虫密度增加，体温稳步上升至39.5摄氏度，此时寄生虫密度进一步增加显然并未导致体温进一步升高，这表明存在一种自我保护的有效反馈机制。
