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Outcome For Hospitalized Road Trauma Patients At A Tertiary Hospital In Kenya, Hassan Saidi, William Macharia, John Ating'a

Paediatrics and Child Health, East Africa

Background: The developing world continues to experience a disproportionate burden of injury. About one half of injury deaths are due to motor vehicle collisions. Road traffic fatalities per 10,000 vehicles are ten to 20 times higher in Africa compared to Europe.

Patients and Methods: 233 patients were consecutively analyzed. Injury acuity was determined by calculating Injury Severity Scores (ISS) for each patient. Information on the care and treatment outcome was obtained from patient interviews, case notes and discharge summaries. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS version 10.0 statistical software.

Results: Injury accounted for 48.8% of all emergency hospitalizations into …

Efficacy And Safety Of Artemether-Lumefantrine (Coartem®) Tablets (Six-Dose Regimen) In African Infants And Children With Acute, Uncomplicated Falciparum Malaria, C. Falade, M. Makanga, Zul Premji, C.E. Ortmann, M. Stockmeyer, P. Ibarra De Palacios

Pathology, East Africa

Approximately one million children die from malaria each year. A recently approved artemisinin-based tablet, Coartem (co-artemether), comprising artemether 120 mg plus lumefantrine 20 mg, given in four doses, provides effective antimalarial treatment for children in many sub-Saharan countries. However, this regimen is considered insufficient for non-immune infants and in areas where multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum predominates. This open-label study assessed the efficacy and safety of co-artemether administered to 310 African children weighing 5-25 kg, with acute, uncomplicated falciparum malaria. Six doses of co-artemether were given over 3 days, with follow-up at 7, 14 and 28 days. Treatment rapidly cleared parasitemia and …