Treatments used for malaria in young Ethiopian children: a retrospective study
Abstract Background In Ethiopia, medicinal plants have been used to treat different diseases, including malaria, for many centuries. People living in rural areas are especially noted for their use of medicinal plants as a major component of their health care. This study aimed to study treatment-seek...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:1b81a73fb9d2496585ec4b81e7c5260a 2023-05-15T15:13:36+02:00 Treatments used for malaria in young Ethiopian children: a retrospective study Abyot Endale Gurmu Teresa Kisi Habteweld Shibru Bertrand Graz Merlin Willcox 2018-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-018-2605-x https://doaj.org/article/1b81a73fb9d2496585ec4b81e7c5260a EN eng BMC http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12936-018-2605-x https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/s12936-018-2605-x 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/1b81a73fb9d2496585ec4b81e7c5260a Malaria Journal, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2018) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-018-2605-x 2022-12-31T08:42:01Z Abstract Background In Ethiopia, medicinal plants have been used to treat different diseases, including malaria, for many centuries. People living in rural areas are especially noted for their use of medicinal plants as a major component of their health care. This study aimed to study treatment-seeking and prioritize plants/plant recipes as anti-malarials, in Dembia district, one of the malarious districts in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods Parents of children aged under 5 years who had had a recent episode of fever were interviewed retrospectively about their child’s treatment and self-reported outcome. Treatments and subsequent clinical outcomes were analysed using Fisher’s exact test to elicit whether there were statistically significant correlations between them. Results and discussion Of 447 children with malaria-like symptoms, only 30% took the recommended first-line treatment (ACT) (all of whom were cured), and 47% took chloroquine (85% cured). Ninety-nine (22.2%) had used medicinal plants as their first-choice treatment. Allium sativum (Liliaceae), Justicia schimperiana (Acanthaceae), Buddleja polystachya (Scrophulariaceae) and Phytolacca dodecandra (Phytolaccaceae) were the most frequently used. Justicia schimperiana was the one associated with the best clinical outcomes (69% self-reported cure rate). However, the difference in clinical outcomes between the plants was not statistically significant. Conclusion In this study, only 30% of children took the recommended first-line treatment. 22% of children with presumed malaria were first treated with herbal medicines. The most commonly used herbal medicine was garlic, but J. schimperiana was associated with the highest reported cure rate of the plants. Further research is warranted to investigate its anti-malarial properties. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Malaria Journal 17 1 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Abyot Endale Gurmu Teresa Kisi Habteweld Shibru Bertrand Graz Merlin Willcox Treatments used for malaria in young Ethiopian children: a retrospective study |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
description |
Abstract Background In Ethiopia, medicinal plants have been used to treat different diseases, including malaria, for many centuries. People living in rural areas are especially noted for their use of medicinal plants as a major component of their health care. This study aimed to study treatment-seeking and prioritize plants/plant recipes as anti-malarials, in Dembia district, one of the malarious districts in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods Parents of children aged under 5 years who had had a recent episode of fever were interviewed retrospectively about their child’s treatment and self-reported outcome. Treatments and subsequent clinical outcomes were analysed using Fisher’s exact test to elicit whether there were statistically significant correlations between them. Results and discussion Of 447 children with malaria-like symptoms, only 30% took the recommended first-line treatment (ACT) (all of whom were cured), and 47% took chloroquine (85% cured). Ninety-nine (22.2%) had used medicinal plants as their first-choice treatment. Allium sativum (Liliaceae), Justicia schimperiana (Acanthaceae), Buddleja polystachya (Scrophulariaceae) and Phytolacca dodecandra (Phytolaccaceae) were the most frequently used. Justicia schimperiana was the one associated with the best clinical outcomes (69% self-reported cure rate). However, the difference in clinical outcomes between the plants was not statistically significant. Conclusion In this study, only 30% of children took the recommended first-line treatment. 22% of children with presumed malaria were first treated with herbal medicines. The most commonly used herbal medicine was garlic, but J. schimperiana was associated with the highest reported cure rate of the plants. Further research is warranted to investigate its anti-malarial properties. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Abyot Endale Gurmu Teresa Kisi Habteweld Shibru Bertrand Graz Merlin Willcox |
author_facet |
Abyot Endale Gurmu Teresa Kisi Habteweld Shibru Bertrand Graz Merlin Willcox |
author_sort |
Abyot Endale Gurmu |
title |
Treatments used for malaria in young Ethiopian children: a retrospective study |
title_short |
Treatments used for malaria in young Ethiopian children: a retrospective study |
title_full |
Treatments used for malaria in young Ethiopian children: a retrospective study |
title_fullStr |
Treatments used for malaria in young Ethiopian children: a retrospective study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Treatments used for malaria in young Ethiopian children: a retrospective study |
title_sort |
treatments used for malaria in young ethiopian children: a retrospective study |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-018-2605-x https://doaj.org/article/1b81a73fb9d2496585ec4b81e7c5260a |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Malaria Journal, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 1-8 (2018) |
op_relation |
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12936-018-2605-x https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/s12936-018-2605-x 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/1b81a73fb9d2496585ec4b81e7c5260a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-018-2605-x |
container_title |
Malaria Journal |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766344136654323712 |