Malaria morbidity amongst hospital workers in Ilorin

Abstract

A study of malaria as a cause of morbidity among the staff of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, Ilorin, Nigeria was carried out from August to October 2001. Patients attending a community based Health Centre was used as control. Malaria accounted for 43.0% of illnesses among the workers and 36.7% in the general public. Malaria was responsible for nearly two-thirds of sickness absence and for 48.6% of days lost due to illnesses. Also the disease was responsible for 50 percent or more of sickness absence among all categories of workers when analyzed by occupations. These findings show that malaria could disrupt the health care delivery of a country since it could affect even health workers. By extension too, it could result in the disruption of the economic activities of the country and result in low productivity if not effectively controlled. It I therefore recommended that all efforts at effective controlling malaria should be put in place in Nigeria.


(Af. J. of Clinical and Experimental Microbiology: 2003 4(1): 18-23)