Infections diagnosed in children and young people screened for malaria in UK emergency departments: a retrospective multi-centre study.
Paediatr Int Child Health
; 44(1): 1-7, 2024 05.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38212934
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Data on imported infections in children and young people (CYP) are sparse.AIMS:
To describe imported infections in CYP arriving from malaria-endemic areas and presenting to UK emergency departments (ED) who were screened for malaria.METHODS:
This is a retrospective, multi-centre, observational study nested in a diagnostic accuracy study for malaria rapid diagnostic tests. Any CYP < 16 years presenting to a participating ED with a history of fever and travel to a malaria-endemic area between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2017 and who had a malaria screen as a part of standard care were included. Geographical risk was calculated for the most common tropical infections.RESULTS:
Of the 1414 CYP screened for malaria, 44.0% (n = 622) arrived from South Asia and 33.3% (n = 471) from sub-Saharan Africa. Half (50.0%) had infections common in both tropical and non-tropical settings such as viral upper respiratory tract infection (URTI); 21.0% of infections were coded as tropical if gastro-enteritis is included, with a total of 4.2% (60) cases of malaria. CYP diagnosed with malaria were 7.44 times more likely to have arrived from sub-Saharan Africa than from South Asia (OR 7.44, 3.78-16.41).CONCLUSION:
A fifth of CYP presenting to participating UK EDs with fever and a history of travel to a malaria-endemic area and who were screened for malaria had a tropical infection if diarrhoea is included. A third of CYP had no diagnosis. CYP arriving from sub-Saharan Africa had the greatest risk of malaria.Abbreviations CYP children and young people; ED emergency department; PERUKI Paediatric Emergency Research in the UK and Ireland; RDT rapid diagnostic test; VFR visiting friends and relatives.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Communicable Diseases, Imported
/
Malaria
Type of study:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Child
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
En
Journal:
Paediatr Int Child Health
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Reino Unido