Koko J, Dufillot D, Zima-Ebeyard A M, Duong T H, Gahouma D, Kombila M
Service de Pédiatrie Générale, l'Hôpital Pédiatrique d'Owendo-Libreville, Gabon.
Med Trop (Mars). 1997;57(2):177-80.
To gain insight into the impact of malaria on children in terms of frequency and severity, a study was carried out in a department of the Owendo Children's Hospital in Libreville, Gabon, a fully endemic area. Diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria was confirmed by blood smears in 295 of the 1592 children admitted in 1992, i.e. 18.5% of admissions. Malaria was therefore the primary cause of hospitalization. Of 122 deaths observed during the study period 9 were due to malaria-associated complications for an overall mortality rate of 7.4% and malaria-related mortality rate of 3.1%. These rates are low in comparison with those reported by other departments in Central Africa. Convulsions were observed in 30.5% of children in the department and malaria was the underlying cause of convulsions in 62.9% of these cases. Severe anemia (< 5 g/dl) was noted in 23.7% of children overall and was associated with malaria in 54.7%. Severe malaria as defined by the criteria of the World Health Organization was observed in 33.2% of children. These findings illustrate the extent of the impact of endemic malaria on children in Gabon and emphasize the need to promote malaria control programs and improve treatment.
为深入了解疟疾在发病频率和严重程度方面对儿童的影响，在加蓬利伯维尔奥温多儿童医院的一个科室开展了一项研究，该地区疟疾流行程度极高。1992年收治的1592名儿童中，有295名经血涂片确诊为恶性疟原虫疟疾，即占入院人数的18.5%。因此，疟疾是住院的主要原因。在研究期间观察到的122例死亡病例中，有9例死于疟疾相关并发症，总死亡率为7.4%，疟疾相关死亡率为3.1%。与中非其他科室报告的死亡率相比，这些死亡率较低。该科室30.5%的儿童出现惊厥，其中62.9%的病例惊厥的根本原因是疟疾。总体而言，23.7%的儿童出现严重贫血（<5g/dl），其中54.7%与疟疾有关。按照世界卫生组织的标准定义，33.2%的儿童患有严重疟疾。这些研究结果表明了疟疾流行对加蓬儿童的影响程度，并强调了推广疟疾控制项目和改善治疗的必要性。
