Características clínico-epidemiológicas en pacientes pediátricos con paludismo. Hospital Provincial de Cabinda

Objective: describe the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of pediatric patients with malaria in the province of Cabinda. Methods and materials: a cross-sectional clinical-epidemiological and retrospective study was carried out, which included 3 410 patients under 15 years of age, treated in the emergency service of the Provincial Hospital of Cabinda. The following variables were recorded: age, sex, nutritional status, season, hemoglobin, parasitaemia and medical behavior followed by the patients surveyed. Patients with malaria and without malaria were compared by means of crossed products with a 95% confidence interval and a p value ≤0,05. Results: the clinical picture of malaria was characterized by fever, evident pallor, hepatosplenomegaly, asthenia, depression of consciousness and convulsions. The most frequent complications were hyperparasitemia and severe anemia. The age group at highest risk were children under 5 years of age, without distinction of sex, season or nutritional status of the patients. The most significant symptomatic combinations were fever / convulsions / pallor and fever / hepatosplenomegaly / abdominal pain. Conclusions: malaria is a health problem in Cabinda most frequently, at ages 1 to 4 years, and its neurological complications were observed in smaller amounts, than those mentioned in the literature with influence of Plasmodium infections in patients with anemia intense, without other variables being determinant in the increase in the number of these patients.