Table 1 Characteristics of enrolled children

Number enrolled

506 (54.9%)

415 (46.1%)

921 (100%)

Gender

 Male

272 (53.7%)

241 (58.1%)

513 (55.7%)

 Female

234 (46.3%)

174 (41.9%)

408 (44.3%)

Mean time of illness before hospital admission in days (95%CI)

3.0 (2.7–3.4)

4.0 (3.5–4.5)

3.5 (3.2–3.8)

Proportion who received anti-malarial treatment before admission (95% CI)

46.8% (42.4–51.3)

39.0% (34.3–43.9)

43.3% (40.0–46.6)

Proportion with fever at admission (95% CI)

79.2% (75.4–82.7)

75.2% (70.7–79.3)

77.4% (75.5–80.0)

Mean age in months (95% CI)

Coma

48.6 (33.9–64.1)

36.9 (30.9–42.8)

39.0 (33.5–44.6)

Convulsions

29.5 (25.5–33.5)

38.3 (32.1–44.5)

33.7 (30.0–37.3)

Prostration

39.3 (34.1–44.6)

41.9 (37.6–46.2)

40.9 (37.5–44.2)

Respiratory Distress

32.1 (17.2–47.0)

29.3 (16.8–41.9)

30.5 (21.2–39.7)

Abnormal bleeding

66.8 (31.2–102.4)

-

-

Circulatory collapse/shock

9 (6.0–47)

42.4 (18.3–66.6)

36.4 (15.4–57.3)

Haemoglobinuria

50.6 (34.7–66.4)

45.3 (36.1–54.5)

46.9 (39.1–54.8)

Incoercible vomiting

34.9 (28.1–41.8)

39.0 (30.2–47.8)

36.7 (31.3–42.0)

Lethargy

35.1 (30.2–40.0)

47.8 (37.0–58.5)

37.6 (33.1–42.1)

Inability to drink /suck

37.7 (21.9–53.5)

41.7 (27.8–55.5)

39.6 (29.6–49.7)

Severe anaemia

30.9 (27.3–34.5)

31.6 (27.8–35.5)

31.2 (28.6–33.8)

Hypoglycaemia

29.2 (14.5–43.9)

26.2 (19.9–32.6)

27.4 (20.8–34.0)

Proportion of microscopically confirmed P. falciparum infection (95% CI)

42.7% (38.3–47.1)

55.9% (50.9–60.7)

48.6% (45.4–51.9)

Geometric mean of P. falciparum count (trophozoites/µL) (95% CI)

22,861.3 (17,009.2–30,726.8)

11,291.9 (8,577.9–14,864.5)

15,865.8 (12,946.4–19,443,6)

Ethnicity (95% CI)

Fulani

4.3% (2.7–6.5)

9.6% (7.0–12.9)

6.7% (5.2–8.5)

Other ethnic groups

95.7% (93.5–97.2)

90.4% (87.1–93.0)

93.3% (91.4–94.8)

Proportion with recent history of malaria/fever episode (current malaria season)

42.5% (38.1–46.9)

70.1% (65.5–74.5)

54.9% (51.7–58.2)