Authors: Akello-Ayebare, G.¹; Richters, J. M.²; Polderman, A. M.³; Visser, L. G.⁴

Source: Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Volume 104, Number 5, July 2010 , pp. 369-376(8)

Publisher: Maney Publishing

Abstract:

A field study was performed to examine suffering and treatment seeking from the perspective of children aged 8–16 years living in war-affected northern Uganda. Various techniques for collecting qualitative and quantitative data were used, including a semi-structured questionnaire about illness experiences and medicine use over a 1-month recall period. The 165 children who were interviewed were attending primary schools for displaced children and/or commuters' night shelters.

The children frequently attributed their common febrile ailments to malaria and used a variety of pharmaceuticals and herbal remedies, as self-medication, for their self-diagnosed malarial episodes. Misdiagnosis of febrile illnesses by the children (as well as by the local healthcare providers) and frequent misuse of medicines in the treatment of these illnesses appeared to be very common.

Improvement of the health conditions of these children requires a change of focus. Firstly, children above the age of 5 years who are not under adult care and who are often no longer welcome in the local hospital's paediatric ward need to be accepted at the outpatient clinics currently intended for adults. Secondly, the local diagnostic system needs to be improved, not only so that malaria can be reliably diagnosed but also so that alternative diagnoses can be confirmed or rejected, otherwise the current over-consumption of antimalarial drugs may simply be replaced with an over-consumption of antibiotics.

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1179/136485910X12743554760342

Affiliations: 1: Department of Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine, Gulu University, P.O. Box 166, Gulu, Uganda. akellograce@hotmail.com 2: Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Leiden University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands 3: Department of Infectious Diseases, Leiden University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands 4: Department of Parasitology, Leiden University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands

Publication date: 2010-07-01

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• In 2012 Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology changed its name to Pathogens of Global Health to reflect changes and developments in the subject area. View the issues of Pathogens of Global Health available online..
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