Malaria Parasitaemia among Febrile Children Infected with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in the Context of Prophylactic Cotrimoxazole as Standard of Care: A Cross- Sectional Survey in Western Kenya

Abstract

Objective: To document the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia among the HIV infected febrile children in a malaria endemic area.
Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: An ambulatory paediatric HIV clinic in Western Kenya, between November 2011 and December 2012.
Subjects: A total of 245 febrile HIV infected children aged less than 14 years attending the HIV clinic in the Webuye level IV hospital were included in the study. A systematic sampling method was used.
Main outcomes: A blood sample was taken for malaria parasite testing. Presence or absence of malaria parasites was documented. Clinical and socio-demographic characteristics of the participants were also recorded.
Results: A total of 245 participants were recruited mean age being 5.53 years. Malaria prevalence was 81.9%. Most participants (97%) were on cotrimoxazole prophylaxis. Some of the factors found to be positively associated with malaria parasitaemia were; male sex, care taker category (parent), WHO stage 3 and 4 of HIV disease, and a high absolute CD4 count. However, only the caretaker association was statistically significant.
Conclusion: The frequency of malaria parasitaemia among febrile HIV infected children is still high regardless of the high cotrimoxazole prophylaxis uptake. It is also noted that there is a shift in the age group of fever among children toward the older age group. This implies that policies may need to be relooked at to include the older age group in the aggressive malaria prevention measures to avoid losing on the already made gains.