Knowledge Attitude and Practices of Caregivers on Management and Treatment of Childhood Malaria in Ogun State, South-Western Nigeria

Home management of malaria involves presumptively treating febrile children at clinic or near home with antimalarial drugs distributed by trained members of the community provide medications and educate primary caregivers about treatment of malaria and recognition of severe illness. Structured questionnaires were administered to the parents, health workers and patent medicine vendors to determine acceptability of rectal artesunate and treatment seeking behaviours. Data obtained were analyzed using SPSS version 20 to assess association with p-value of < 0.05. Current first line antimalarial drug for treating childhood malaria at the PHCs was artesunate derivatives (90.3%) with no usage of chloroquine derivatives (0%) and common route of administration was intra-muscular (81.4%) with least usage of rectal (6.2%). Patent medicine vendors showed that the common drug derivatives purchase for treating childhood malaria was chloroquine derivatives (89.2%) with oral (91.9%) as most common route of administration and no awareness of rectal route (0%). Cases of resistance of malaria parasites to anti-malarial drugs, mostly chloroquine derivatives (89.3%) and least with artesunate derivatives (7.1%) observed by health workers. Incomplete dosage (95.6%) and fake drug (84.9%) were described as main factors responsible for malaria parasite resistance. Patent medicine vendors have come across cases of resistance of malaria parasites to anti-malarial drugs mostly chloroquine derivatives (93.2%) with drug abuse (89.2%) and fake drug (82.4%). Treatment of malaria is challenged by inadequate health-care infrastructure and community-based interventions.