The Prevalence of Cerebral Malaria among Children under the Age of Ten in Selected Hospitals within Zaria Metropolis, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates the prevalence of Cerebral Malaria (CM) among children in selected hospitals within Zaria metropolis, Kaduna State, aiming to address the limited data specific to this region. It focuses on CM prevalence among children under the age of 10 in the study area.  A cross-sectional study design was employed, and to ensure accurate representation of the target population and the specific condition of interest in the selected hospitals, a purposive sampling technique was adapted for this study. Data were collected through laboratory examination of participants’ blood through thick and thin blood film, after which the Plasmodium Falciparum positive slides were subjected to complete blood count test, parasite density calculation and temperature measurement. A physical clinical assessment using the Blantyre Coma Scale (BCS) to determine the altered state of consciousness or coma was used, and a well-structured questionnaire, as well as a consent form, was given to the participant’s parent or guardian to elicit data. Version 23 of IBM's Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS) software was used to conduct all statistical analyses and a probability value below 0.05 (p 0.05) was regarded as statistically significant. Among 240 samples, the findings identified an overall prevalence of CM to be 9.2% with higher prevalence of CM recorded in Hospital D (15.0%) compared to Hospital A, C, and B which reported a prevalence of 10.0%, 6.7% and 5.0% respectively.