Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0024530 (malaria)
 44,886 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A method is described for assessing quantitatively the relative importance of different disease problems on the health of a population. The impact of a disease on a community is measured by the number of healthy days of life which are lost through illness, disability and death as a consequence of the disease. The measure is derived by combining information on the incidence rate, the case fatality rate and the extent and duration of disability produced by the disease. In Ghana, it is estimated that malaria, measles, childhood pneumonia, sickle cell disease and severe malnutrition are the 5 most important causes of loss of healthy life and between them they account for 34% of healthy life lost due to all diseases. The methodology may be used to help determine the priorities for the allocation of resources to alternative health improvement procedures by estimating the number of healthy days of life which are likely to be saved by different procedures and by relating these savings to the costs of the procedures.
 ...
PMID:A quantitative method of assessing the health impact of different diseases in less developed countries. Ghana Health Assessment Project Team. 723 65

Severe anemia has remained a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children of Southern Ghana since the early 1960s. Cases of anemia and anemia-associated mortality in the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Accra, that occurred from January to December 1991 were reviewed. Data on hemoglobin levels, hypochromia, and malaria parasitemia of children referred from January to December 1991 were collected and analyzed to determine the prevalence of moderate/severe malaria parasitemia, anemia, and severe anemia. 10,989 (71.1%) of 15,450 children attending KBTH referred to the laboratory for hematological studies had hemoglobin (Hb) levels below 11.0 g/dl; while 3049 children (27.7%) of anemic patients had Hb levels below 7.0 g/dl. Of these 3049 children with severe anemia, 2185 (71.7%) had Hb levels below 5.0 g/dl, thus requiring urgent blood transfusion. Though the Department of Child Health alone utilized 32.2% of total blood processed by the National Blood Transfusion Service at KBTH, as many as 259 (58.1%) of the 554 deaths (306 male and 248 female) in the emergency room in children beyond the neonatal period were related to severe anemia. The main causes were nutritional anemia (n = 135), anemia associated with severe malaria (n = 56), anemia associated with sickle cell disease (n = 28), anemia associated with protein-energy malnutrition (n = 22), and 18 cases of anemia complicating gastroenteritis, pneumonia, meningitis, and convulsions. 108 (19.5%) deaths occurred because of neonatal sepsis, severe neonatal hyperbilirubinemia, meningitis and bronchopneumonia, severe anemia secondary to hemorrhage of the newborn, and faulty cord ligation. A significant decline occurred in the prevalence of childhood anemia in the developed world following improved counseling in nutrition, fortification of foods with iron, and iron supplementation to infants and schoolchildren with the attendant improvement in growth velocity and intellectual performance. A planned national anemia survey and early consideration of iron supplementation to older infants and preschool children at risk are recommended.
 ...
PMID:Childhood deaths from anaemia in Accra, Ghana. 749 16

Between 1975 and 1983 health care expenditures in Ghana dropped to a low point as a consequence of the structural readjustment program instituted by the World Bank. During 1975-76 only 15% of available funds were spent on primary health care (PHC), which was officially introduced in the late 1970s. PHC made up 20-25% of the health care expenditures by 1991 with about 25% of health personnel engaged in PHC. 2/3 of health care delivery covered urban areas when 60% of the population lived in the countryside. The district of Ejisu-Juaben in the Ashanti region had high morbidity. Tetanus, polio, whooping-cough, and diphtheria had been brought under control, but measles, diarrhea, and malnutrition were still widespread among children under 5 years old. Malaria, bilharzia, intestinal parasites, respiratory infections, hepatitis, anemia, hypertension, and vitamin A deficiency were also grave problems. AIDS was on the rise. Child mortality amounted to 130/1000 live births and maternal mortality to 1400/100,000 cases. The medical structure of the district comprises 10 health posts (6 governmental and 4 mission). Only 72 villages and 120,000 people are cared for. Each post has a mobile team. In 1993 a new community-based health care program began funded by Save the Children Netherlands. In 60 villages a village health committee existed but they were substandard. They were either reactivated or new committees were set up. Training activities were also started in prenatal care, delivery, care of malnutrition and diarrhea, hygiene, and sanitation. Two years later safe motherhood indicators had improved; postnatal care increased from 16% to 49%; medical deliveries increased from 27% to 37%; the share of families with contraceptive acceptance increased from 7% to 21%; and tetanus vaccination among mothers was estimated to have increased from 27% to 86%.
 ...
PMID:[Primary health care in Ghana: no pay no cure?]. 750 Oct 68

In preparation for the trial of a conjugated polysaccharide vaccine immunogenic in young children in The Gambia, a surveillance system was established in Upper River Division (URD) to detect deaths from all causes and from acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) in children under five years old. The URD is the eastern-most administrative area in The Gambia, with a 1989 estimated population of 133,000. Field workers complete questionnaires on the basis of information provided by the mother or guardian of an under-five year old child dead since one month. The goal is to learn about the sequence and duration of events which took place during the child's last illness. 915 under-five year old deaths were reported over the period July 1988 to June 1989, for which post-mortem questionnaires were completed for all but 44 for various logistic reasons. Peak rates for all major causes of death were observed in the rainy season, ALRI were the most frequent cause of death, and other major causes of death included malaria, acute gastro-enteritis, and chronic diarrhea with malnutrition. Mortality from all the major causes decreased with increasing village size. The authors discuss the implications of these findings for interventions against childhood mortality.
 ...
PMID:The pattern of infant and childhood mortality in Upper River Division, The Gambia. 750 81

Conventional methods of classifying causes of death suggest that about 70% of the deaths of children 0-4 years old worldwide are due to diarrheal illness, acute respiratory infection, malaria, and immunizable diseases. The role of malnutrition in child mortality is not revealed by these conventional methods, despite the long-standing recognition of the synergism between malnutrition and infectious diseases. This paper describes a recently-developed epidemiological method to estimate the percentage of child deaths (ages 6-59 months) which could be attributed to the potentiating effects of malnutrition in infectious disease. The methodology is based on the results of 8 community-based, prospective studies of the relationship between anthropometry and child mortality from the rural areas of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malawi, Papua New Guinea, and Tanzania. These studies suggest that the risk of mortality increases at a compounded rate of 5.9% for each percentage point decline in weight-for-age below the reference point of 90% weight-for-age. Using the relative risk estimates, the standard epidemiological statistic of population-attributable risk (PAR) was used to estimate the percentage of child deaths attributable to malnutrition's potentiating impact on infectious disease. The results from 53 developing countries with nationally representative data on child weight-for-age indicated that 56% of child deaths were attributable to malnutrition's potentiating effects. 83% of these were attributable to mild-to-moderate as opposed to severe malnutrition, with a range of 73-74% in Bangladesh and India to a high of 100% in countries with very low malnutrition prevalences. For individual countries, malnutrition's total potentiating effects on mortality ranged from 13% in Paraguay to 67% in India, with at least 3/4 of this arising from mild-to-moderate malnutrition in each case. The powerful impact of malnutrition on child mortality suggests that strategies involving only the screening and treatment of the severely malnourished are not sufficient.
 ...
PMID:The effects of malnutrition on child mortality in developing countries. 755 15

The 1993 assassination of the President of the Republic of Burundi led to a bloodbath resulting in the killing of 700 000 people and 300 000 refugees in camps scattered throughout the country. After the emergency surgery phase, the French cooperation which was in charge of health care in the Gitega sector requested a humanitary mission. Two public health physicians, a polyvalent clinical physician, and two field nurses were sent. All were armed service personnel. From January to April 1994, after a preliminary assessment of the situation, this mission took charge of health services as well as administrative services for the population of the region including some 10 000 refugees. Epidemiologic surveillance was carefully organized. During the first quarter of the year, there were 2451 declared cases of bacterial dysentery, 6738 cases of malaria-like fever including 25% confirmed by paristological findings on a study of 60 consultants, 87 cases of measles, and 1306 cases of conjunctivitis. There were no cases of cholerea or meningoccoal meningitis. A food support program was started when it was noted that the overall rate of acute malnutrition among refugee children under the age of 5 years was 25% (weight/height ratio less than minus 2 standard deviations or observation of edema). At the present time the situation in the sector is back to normal and the health care system is operating satisfactorally. However the situation in neighboring Rwanda could have adverse effects on the political stability of Burundi.
 ...
PMID:[Burundi: humanitarian mission (January-April 1994)]. 756 2

Seven hundred and three Nigerian village children in their first six years of life were subjected to anthropometric measurements and physical examination in early 1988. The heights of 66.9% and weights of 60.5% of them fell below the third percentile of a Nigerian equivalent for international reference population standard. Mid upper arm circumference values indicated moderate to severe malnutrition in over 25% of all 1-5 year old children surveyed. Fever, cough, headache and diarrhoea were the commonest symptoms encountered in the children. Mild pallor of the conjunctival mucosa and physical signs of protein energy malnutrition were commonly seen. Fungal and septic skin lesions were present in 11.45 and 11.1% of the children respectively, whilst rhinorrhoea was seen in 4.7%, otitis media in 6% and pharyngotonsillitis in 3.3%. Thirty four (4.8%) of the children had haemic whereas five had pathological murmurs. Dental calculi were present in 15.8%, umbilical herniae in 18.2%, hepatomegaly in 48.2% and splenomegaly in 23% of the children. Seven (1%) had cerebral palsy. The implication is that malnutrition, sickle cell disease, malaria and other infections are the prevailing causes of morbidity in the preschool aged children surveyed. Desirable improvements include upgrading socio-economic and living conditions and instituting appropriate control measures.
 ...
PMID:Anthropometric measurement in children aged 0-6 years in a Nigerian village. 758 49

After nearly 30 years of war, health services in Vietnam were devastated. Pediatric Hospital Number 1 (PH1) in Ho Chi Minh City was severely overloaded, mortality rates for readily treatable diseases were high, and staff competence and motivation were low. In 1988, PH1 introduced primary health care (PHC) concepts into the policy of the hospital. The approach included identification of priority diseases that are most easily treatable (diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, Dengue haemorrhagic fever, malnutrition, and common paediatric emergencies including malaria); establishment of training programmes through paediatric priority training units for medical staff of PH1 and health centres (district and commune services), and health education for the patients' carers; promotion of outpatient treatment to avoid unnecessary admissions; use of appropriate technology such as essential drugs and application of WHO guidelines; support for health centres; transfer of responsibility for decision-making from one central authority to each department; and community participation, by which we sought small contributions from families who could afford to pay. Since the new approach was implemented, the numbers of admissions have fallen substantially. Mortality rates have decreased greatly (diarrhoea by 80%, Dengue fever by 64%, and acute respiratory infections by 41%). Support from foreign non-governmental organisations has enabled training and research to enhance staff skill and knowledge and supply of necessary equipment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
 ...
PMID:Integration of primary health care concepts in a children's hospital with limited resources. 756 1

To determine the impact of parasitic infection of the digestive and urinary tract in children living in a rural area of Togo, a retrospective study was conducted in a Pediatric Department of Kara, Togo. Results revealed that 35% of the 1610 children between the ages of 0 and 16 years had positive tests for parasites in stools or urine and that 117 had more than one parasite. Trichomonas intestinalis, Entamoeba histolytica, Schistosoma mansoni and Necator americanus accounted for 86.5% of the parasitic infections observed. Parasitic infection was observed during the neonatal period and its incidence increased in males up to the age of 12 years and during the rainy months of the year. Study of associated diseases indicated that 56% of children with parasites also had malaria and that 47% were anemic. Parasitic infection of the digestive and/or urinary tract was noted in 31.8% of children under the age of 5 years with malnutrition.
 ...
PMID:[Gastrointestinal and urinary parasitic infection in children at a regional hospital center in Togo: some epidemiological aspects]. 763 13

Between 1982 and 1986 in western Zaire, a pediatrician collected data on 206 children under 5 years old presenting at the Institute Medical Evangelique, a 400-bed mission hospital (60 pediatric beds), in Kimpese with persisting fever despite chloroquine therapy for falciparum malaria, a negative or scanty positive thick film for malaria, and no clear localizing signs of infections. The pediatrician suspected that these cases had an extraintestinal Salmonella infection and took blood, synovial fluid, and/or cerebrospinal fluid samples for diagnostic analyses. Salmonella serotypes other than Salmonella typhi (non-S. typhi) were responsible for most bacteremia cases (83%). The clinical features of non-S. typhi and S. typhi infections were basically the same. The case fatality rate for non-S. typhi and S. typhi an S. typhi infections were 22.7% and 29.4%, respectively. Infants under 6 months old had a significantly higher case fatality rate than older children (relative risk [RR] = 1.7; p .0005; e.g., 66% and 100% for infants under 3 months old). Meningitis was significantly associated with increased mortality, regardless of age (RR = 4.68). Jaundice was the only clinical sign significantly linked to increased mortality (RR = 2.35), especially among children who had S. typhi infection (80%). Mortality occurred significantly more often when children fell ill with Salmonella bacteremia in the late rainy season, coinciding with the peak of malnutrition, than in the dry season (RR = 2.62). Chloramphenicol-resistant non-S. typhi isolated were significantly associated with increased mortality (RR = 3.19). Hemoglobin levels below 6 g (i.e. severe anemia) has a strong link to increased mortality (RR = 1.77). Salmonella bacteremia will become more difficult to treat as antibiotic resistance and the prevalence of HIV infection increases in African countries.
 ...
PMID:Salmonella bacteraemia among young children at a rural hospital in western Zaire. 768 45


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>