Publications

Malaria is among the world's most common and life-threatening tropical diseases. Malaria is caused byPlasmodium parasites, which are transmitted through the female Anopheles mosquito's bite, which occurs mainlybetween dusk and dawn. Children are mostly affected because their immune systems are not yet fully developed tofight severe forms of disease. This study determined risk factors associated with severe malaria in children underfive years in the Jinja regional referral hospital in Jinja City, Eastern Uganda. A prospective cross-sectional studywas conducted on 380 participants to determine factors associated with severe malaria among children under fiveyears. After completing data collection, the data was subsequently fed into Statistical Package for the SocialSciences (SPSS) version 20 for analysis. In a tabular form, each independent variable was analyzed in a univariateform; the independent variables were compared with the dependent variable in a bivariate form, then subsequentlymultivariate, and this served as the basis for drawing conclusions in this study. Among the 380 participants in thestudy, the majority (57.6%) were above 3 years old, had household heads aged 26–40 years old (56.6%), and weremale (65.3%). This study found that among the socio-demographic factors, age of the child, education level of thecaregiver, and marital status of the caregiver were significantly associated with severe malaria among childrenunder five years. Further, type of toilet facility used at home, size of household, having a treated mosquito net andusing it, and number of children under five years in the household were significantly associated with severemalaria among children under five years. This study further established an association between distance to thehealth facility, waiting hours, getting all medication while at the facility, and severe malaria among children underfive years. Severe malaria among children under five years old is still a big public health challenge. Factorsassociated with severe malaria among children under five years include age of the child, education level ofcaregiver, marital status of caregiver, type of toilet facility used at home, size of household, owning a treatedmosquito net, number of children under five, distance to the health facility, waiting hours, and getting allmedication while at the health facility