Background: Nigeria is currently a malaria endemic country with an estimated 76% of her population at risk of contracting malaria
[1]. According to a study in Nigeria, the first line of action mothers took when their children under 5 years have malaria showed that over 50% of them used non-prescription drugs they have at home or bought from pharmacy stores. And 60% of the most commonly used drugs for malaria treatment were chloroquine
[2]. Many recent studies have demonstrated re-emergence of chloroquine-sensitive
P. falciparum, suggesting a possible role in future malaria control
[3].
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of home-based oral chloroquine treatment among children under 5 years with
Plasmodium falciparum malaria attending Jos University Teaching Hospital and OLA Hospital in Jos Metropolis.
Method: This is a cross-sectional study of 93 malaria and non-malaria children. Malaria diagnosis was carried out using microscopical examination of Leishman’s stained thick and thin blood films,
P. falciparum parasitemia was assessed by standard microscopy techniques and complete blood count was done using Beckman Coulter Analyzer.
Results: The body temperature on admission was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the control group (36.80
˚C ± 0.07
˚C) than in the three malaria groups. The mean body temperature of chloroquine treated children with malaria was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than that of children presenting with severe malaria. Parasitaemia was significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the pre admission chloroquine treated group (18.13% ± 0.49%) than in the non-treated simple malaria group (34.35% ± 2.75%) and severe malaria group (43.57% ± 5.49%), respectively. The average number of days before the cases were reported in the hospital was 4.80 days. The haemoglobin concentration of 7.23 ± 1.01 g/dl obtained for non-treated malaria patients indicates a mild anaemia, whereas the haemoglobin concentration values of 9.60 ± 0.51 g/dl and 10.52 ± 0.16 g/dl obtained for chloroquine treated children and control children respectively show that the two groups of children were not anaemic and the values obtained were within the normal range.
Conclusion: The results obtained in this study demonstrate that there was significant positive impact of chloroquine treatment on
Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia and degree of anemia in children under 5 years with
Plasmodium falciparum in Jos Metropolis.