0.1 Health education course, chapter 2 - children and disease  (Page 3/4)

Treatment for meningitis depends on the cause of the infection:

• People with meningitis caused by a virus usually get better in about 2 weeks. They often need only home treatment.
• People with meningitis caused by bacteria need to be treated with antibiotics in a hospital. They are more likely to developcomplications during illness and long-term complications. Death can occur if bacterial meningitis is not treated promptly.

Malaria

The vast majority of malaria deaths occur among young children in Africa, especially in remote rural areas with poor access tohealth services. Approximately one million deaths among children under five years of age can be attributed to malaria alone or in combination withother diseases.

Mortality is concentrated in the younger age groups. Among children referred to hospitals with severe malaria, case-fatalityrates of 10%-30% have been reported. In rural areas with little access to adequate treatment these rates might be even higher. Even in non-fatalcases malaria produces considerable impact on the health of young African children, increasing susceptibility to other infections and hamperingdevelopment.

Symptoms

In regions where malaria is present, people may be immune (not susceptible to the disease) or semi-immune and be infected withmalaria but have few or no symptoms.3 The symptoms of two people with malaria can vary greatly, depending on each person's immunity: one person may bevery healthy, the other person may be extremely ill.

Symptoms in the early stages of malaria can be similar to those of many other illnesses caused by bacterial, viral, or parasiticinfections. If a person has been in an area where malaria is present (especially in the past 2 months) and the person has symptoms of malaria,then he or she should be suspected of having the disease until tests prove otherwise. Symptoms may include the following:

• Fever (may be periodic)
• Chills
• Headache
• Sweats
• Fatigue
• Nausea and vomiting

Symptoms may appear in cycles. The symptoms may come and go at different intensities and for different lengths of time. However,especially at the beginning of the illness, the symptoms may not follow this typical cyclic pattern.

The cyclic pattern of malaria symptoms is due to the life cycle of malaria parasites and their development as they reproduce andare released from the red blood cells in the human body. This cycle of symptoms is also one of the major indicators that a person is infected withmalaria.

Other common signs and symptoms of malaria

Other common signs and symptoms of malaria include:

• Dry (nonproductive) cough.
• Muscle and/or back pain.
• Enlarged spleen.
• Impaired function of the brain or spinal cord, seizures, or unconsciousness (rare).

Infection with the Plasmodium falciparum parasite is usually more serious and may become life-threatening. Symptoms inaddition to those listed above include:

• Severe infection of the brain (cerebral malaria), with seizures, confusion, and progressive lethargy leading to coma and death.
• Fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema).
• Kidney failure (renal failure).
• Severe anemia.
• Blackwater fever (massive destruction of red blood cells, which causes dark-colored urine).