Journal of
Public Health and Epidemiology

  • Abbreviation: J. Public Health Epidemiol.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2141-2316
  • DOI: 10.5897/JPHE
  • Start Year: 2009
  • Published Articles: 655

Full Length Research Paper

Analysis of hospital account of malaria cases in a Malawian hospital

Richard E. Kang
  • Richard E. Kang
  • The School of Public Health, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94704, United States.
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David S. Chung
  • David S. Chung
  • Division of Biology and Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, United States.
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Seung Hyun Han
  • Seung Hyun Han
  • Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States.
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Brian Lee
  • Brian Lee
  • University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, United States.
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Jeffrey Y. Lee
  • Jeffrey Y. Lee
  • Wayzata High School, Plymouth, MN 55446, United States.
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Allen Ho
  • Allen Ho
  • Andover High School, Andover MA 01810, Andover High School, United States.
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Woohyung Lee
  • Woohyung Lee
  • Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong.
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Sung-Jae Chung
  • Sung-Jae Chung
  • School of Arts and Sciences, Marymount University, Arlington, VA 22203, United States.
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Jerome Z. Nkambule
  • Jerome Z. Nkambule
  • Kasungu District Hospital, Kasungu District, Malawi.
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  •  Received: 23 January 2016
  •  Accepted: 10 March 2016
  •  Published: 31 October 2016

Abstract

The current study has been undertaken by studying the data from the hospital registers at the Kasugu District Hospital, Malawi.  The malaria cases of 2014 were chosen for the study. They typically represent disease distribution based on the ages and genders of the patients. The data suggest that the cure rates among patients under age 5 and above do not have any significant difference, contrary to the commonly anticipated outcome that the older children should have better developed immune systems and should have higher cure rates. A notable point is there are huge dichotomies between genders in terms of the reported registered cases, the cure and mortality rates. The gender differentiation in the reporting and management of malaria is understood under the contemporary socio-cultural beliefs and economic realities of the Malawian society. This analysis has been carried out from a qualitative perspective, but with an attempt to identify a pattern from a year's length of statistical data.

 

Key words: Malaria epidemiology, malaria cases, mortality, case fatality rates.