Severe Malaria In Children: Criteria For Grading Case Severity.

Abstract

Mortality due to life-threatening malaria remains very high despite advances in knowledge. This calls for a review of existing disease management and control strategies, especially following reports that severe malaria patients are not homogeneous severity group, that the 2000 WHO definition may have included some less severely ill patients in the diagnosis. Yet is no non-laboratory means of grading case severity of severe malaria in children, for use in resource-poor countries. The objective of our study , therefore, was to design such a method. We studied the presenting complaints of 155 pediatric severe malaria patients: identified 4 major complaints and 4 minor ones, and the associated fatality rates. A 3-grade system is proposed for assessing childhood severe malaria case severity and monitoring patient's recovery.