Point-of-admission hypoglycaemia among under-five Nigerian children with plasmodium falciparum malaria: prevalence and risk factors.

Background: Hypoglycaemia is a well recognized complication of falciparum malaria in children but its diagnosis may be overlooked because all the clinical features may be mimicked by severe malaria. To determine the prevalence of hypoglycaemia at the point of hospital admission of under-fives with falciparum malaria and identify its risk factors in patients seen in a Nigerian secondary-health-care institution.

Methods: During a 12-month period and at the point of hospital admission, venous blood sample was collected into an appropriate sample bottle (fluoride-oxalate bottle) from 502 children who were below 5 years of age with positive falciparum malaria parasitaemia.