Slutsker L, Chitsulo L, Macheso A, Steketee R W
Malaria Branch, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA.
Trop Med Parasitol. 1994 Mar;45(1):61-4.
Caretakers of children (< 10 years of age) were questioned about management of pediatric malarial fever episodes in a nation-wide knowledge, attitudes, and practices survey conducted in Malawi. A total of 1,531 households in 30 randomly selected clusters of 51 households each were sampled and interviewed. Overall 557 caretakers reported a fever in their child in the previous 2 weeks; 43%-judged the illness as severe. Fifty-two percent of caretakers brought their febrile children to clinic. Clinic attendance was positively correlated with young age of the child (< 4 years), severe illness, and higher socioeconomic status. Seventy-four percent of clinic attenders gave their child an antimalarial; in contrast, only 42% of those not attending clinic gave an antimalarial. Optimal therapy (administration of an antimalarial promptly and at the proper dosage) was received by only 7% of febrile children. Children taken to clinic were twice as likely to receive optimal therapy as were non-attenders. Identification of critical points in the optimal therapy algorithm and characteristics of caretakers linked with sub-optimal therapy may help malaria control programs target specific groups and health education messages to improve treatment of malaria fever episodes.
在马拉维开展的一项全国性知识、态度和实践调查中，对10岁以下儿童的看护者就小儿疟疾发热发作的处理情况进行了询问。在30个随机抽取的群组中，每个群组有51户家庭，共1531户家庭被抽样并接受了访谈。总体而言，557名看护者报告其孩子在过去两周内发烧；其中43%认为病情严重。52%的看护者带发热的孩子去了诊所。就诊与孩子年幼（<4岁）、病情严重以及较高的社会经济地位呈正相关。74%去诊所就诊的人给孩子服用了抗疟药；相比之下，未去诊所的人中只有42%给孩子服用了抗疟药。只有7%的发热儿童接受了最佳治疗（及时且按适当剂量服用抗疟药）。去诊所就诊的儿童接受最佳治疗的可能性是非就诊儿童的两倍。确定最佳治疗方案中的关键点以及与治疗不充分相关的看护者特征，可能有助于疟疾控制项目针对特定群体并传递健康教育信息，以改善对疟疾发热发作的治疗。
