Malaria morbidity among children attending maternal and child welfare clinics in northern Nigeria.

Blood samples from 522 children within the ages of 0-9 years attending maternal and child welfare clinics in northern Nigeria who were clinically diagnosed as being malarious were obtained for parasitological examination. Results revealed a parasite rate of 41%, density index of 7.72 and 19.5% of the population with parasite densities higher than the critical value of 10,000 parasites/mm3. There was no direct relationship between body temperature and rate of infection and between febrile illness and parasite density. Sex unlike age had no effect on the infection in the population. The study confirms that accurate diagnosis of malaria rests upon parasitological examination and not clinical acumen.