[Clinical signs of severe malaria in a pediatric hospital in Ouagadougou].

During the period of transmission of malaria, from August to November of 1993 and 1994, we conducted a study to determine the frequency of the clinical forms of severe and complicated malaria. The study involved children, from 6 months through 15 years old, admitted to the pediatric ward of the hospital in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The criteria for inclusion followed the definition of severe malaria stated by the World Health Organization. We carefully noted the symptoms and signs on admission. Of the total of 719 children enrolled in the study, there was a prevalence of children under 5 years old. The most frequent clinical forms were those of coma (377 cases, 52.4%), prostration (268 cases, 37.3%), convulsion (152 cases, 21.4%), anemia (115 cases, 15.9%), and hypoglycemia (55 cases, 10.3%). No renal failure form was observed. We also observed the respiratory distress form (35 cases, 4.9%) and the hemorrhagic form (11 cases, 1.5%). Malaria remains a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality in the developing world. Early therapeutic management of febrile attacks with chloroquine would reduce the incidence of severe and complicated malaria.