ArticleBMC public health2014
Symptomatic malaria diagnosis overestimate malaria prevalence, but underestimate anaemia burdens in children: results of a follow up study in Kenya.
Article in BMC public health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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15 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Burden of malaria-HIV coinfection and associated adverse outcomes in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Pooled it
- Plasmodium falciparum and Schistosoma mansoni coinfections among the general population in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Malaria journal · 2024Pooled it
- Evaluation of serum electrolytes and kidney function among untreated malaria (Plasmodium falciparum) patients in health centers, Konso zone, South Ethiopia.Tropical diseases, travel medicine and vaccines · 2025Article
- Article
- Malaria amongst children under five in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review of prevalence, risk factors and preventive interventions.European journal of medical research · 2023Article
- Prevalence of malaria and its risk factors in Lake Tana and surrounding areas, northwest Ethiopia.Malaria journal · 2022Article
- Factors associated with mothers' health care-seeking behaviours for childhood fever in Burkina Faso: findings from repeated cross-sectional household surveys.Global health research and policy · 2022Article
- Medicinal plants used in traditional treatment of malaria in Ethiopia: a review of ethnomedicine, anti-malarial and toxicity studies.Malaria journal · 2022Review
- Antiplasmodial Activity of 80% Methanolic Extract and Solvent Fractions of Stem Bark ofEvidence-based complementary and alternative medicine : eCAM · 2022Article
- Malaria Prevalence and Distribution ofJournal of parasitology research · 2022Review
- Prevalence of Malaria among Adults in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of tropical medicine · 2021Review
- Review
- Diagnostic tools in childhood malaria.Parasites & vectors · 2018Review
- Informatics solutions for bridging the gap between clinical and laboratory services in a low-resource setting.African journal of laboratory medicine · 2015Article
- Clinical indicators for bacterial co-infection in Ghanaian children with P. falciparum infection.PloS one · 2015Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 7 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe commonly accepted gold standard diagnostic method for detecting malaria is a microscopic reading of Giemsa-stained blood films. However, symptomatic diagnosis remains the basis of therapeutic care for the majority of febrile patients in malaria endemic areas. This study aims to compare the discrepancy in malaria and anaemia burdens between symptomatic diagnosed patients with those diagnosed through the laboratory.
methodsData were collected from Western Kenya during a follow-up study of 887 children with suspected cases of malaria visiting the health facilities. In the laboratory, blood samples were analysed for malaria parasite and haemoglobin levels. Differences in malaria prevalence between symptomatic diagnosis and laboratory diagnosis were analysed by Chi-square test. Bayesian probabilities were used for the approximation of the malaria and anaemia burdens. Regression analysis was applied to: (1) determine the relationships between haemoglobin levels, and malaria parasite density and (2) relate the prevalence of anaemia and the prevalence of malaria.
resultsThe prevalence of malaria and anaemia ranged from 10% to 34%, being highest during the rainy seasons. The predominant malaria parasite was P. falciparum (92.3%), which occurred in higher density in children aged 2‒5 years. Fever, high temperature, sweating, shivering, vomiting and severe headache symptoms were associated with malaria during presumptive diagnosis. After conducting laboratory diagnosis, lower malaria prevalence was reported among the presumptively diagnosed patients. Surprisingly, there were no attempts to detect anaemia in the same cohort. There was a significant negative correlation between Hb levels and parasite density. We also found a positive correlation between the prevalence of anaemia and the prevalence of malaria after laboratory diagnosis indicating possible co-occurrence of malaria and anaemia.
conclusionSymptomatic diagnosis of malaria overestimates malaria prevalence, but underestimates the anaemia burden in children. Good clinical practice dictates that a laboratory should confirm the presence of parasites for all suspected cases of malaria.
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