Abstract
Background.Although children <5 years old in sub-Saharan Africa are vulnerable to both malaria and influenza, little is known about coinfection.Methods.This retrospective, cross-sectional study in rural western Kenya examined outpatient visits and hospitalizations associated with febrile acute respiratory illness (ARI) during a 2-year period (July 2009-June 2011) in children <5 years old.Results.Across sites, 45 (149/331) of influenza-positive patients were coinfected with malaria, whereas only 6 (149/2408) of malaria-positive patients were coinfected with influenza. Depending on age, coinfection was present in 4-8 of outpatient visits and 1-3 of inpatient admissions for febrile ARI. Children with influenza were less likely than those without to have malaria (risk ratio [RR], 0.57-0.76 across sites and ages), and children with malaria were less likely than those without to have influenza (RR, 0.36-0.63). Among coinfected children aged 24-59 months, hospital length of stay was 2.7 and 2.8 days longer than influenza-only-infected children at the 2 sites, and 1.3 and 3.1 days longer than those with malaria only (all P <. 01).Conclusions.Coinfection with malaria and influenza was uncommon but associated with longer hospitalization than single infections among children 24-59 months of age.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 1674-1684 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Journal of Infectious Diseases |
Volume | 206 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Infectious Diseases