Reduction in febrile episodes and dynamics of pyrogenic threshold in Nigerian children with Plasmodium falciparum malaria

This study determined the trends of fever in relation to parasitaemia and established Pyrogenic threshold (PYT) for malaria in Nigerian children. Two cross-sectional surveys of malaria and fever were carried out during the dry and rainy seasons of 2007 and 2008 in children aged 6 mo −11 yr attending two Primary Health Care Centres (PHC) in Lagos, Nigeria. Structured questionnaires were used to capture data. A total of 505 children attending PHC during the rainy ( n = 385) and dry ( n = 116) seasons were studied. Unlike in the dry season, the parasite rate increased with age until 59 mo during the rainy season, while both fever rate (19.7–25.4% vs. 14.1–17.7%) and parasite and fever rate combined (13.4–16.7% vs. 9.2–11.2%) showed a decrease with increasing age. More febrile cases with parasitaemia occurred in children aged 23 mo and below compared to those within the 24–59 mo age bracket during the rainy season only ( P