Table 1.

Demographic, clinical, and laboratory test characteristics of and outcomes for African children with malaria, by site.

Characteristic or finding, by class	Blantyre, Malawi(n = 4362)	Kilifi, Kenya(n = 5274)	Kumasi, Ghana(n = 4969)
Demographic
Age, mean months ± SD	36 ± 32	34 ± 28	32 ± 29
Male sex	54	53	55
Weight, mean kg ± SD	12.0 ± 5.5	10.8 ± 4.5	11.5 ± 5.2
Weight-for-age Z score, mean ± SD	−1.8 ± 1.7	−2.4 ± 1.7	−1.7 ± 1.6
Medical history
Seizures	18	18	44
Vomiting	42	31	56
Examination findings at admission
Deep breathing	5	11	16
Indrawing	2	14	19
Irregular breathing	4	3	6
Unable to sit	28	26	47
Blantyre coma score ≤2	5	10	13
Blantyre coma score ≤4	9	20	25
Temperature, mean ºC ± SD	38.4 ± 1.2	38.± 3 1.2	37.8 ± 1.1
Spleen size, mean cm ± SD	0.7 ± 1.4	0.9 ± 1.7	1.6 ± 2.0
Laboratory test results at admission
Parasite count, median parasites × 103/μL (IQR)	81 (33–177)	43 (3–214)	75 (17–265)
Hyperparasitemiaa	4	8	12
Hematocrit, mean % ± SD	26.8 ± 7.9	24.7 ± 7.6	20.0 ± 7.4
Hemoglobin, mean g/dL ± SD	…b	7.8 ± 2.4	6.7 ± 2.5
Anemiac	8	12	28
Glucose, mean mmol/L ± SD	5.5 ± 1.9	5.4 ± 2.4	5.4 ± 2.9
Hypoglycemiad	2	5	5
Base excess value
Mean ± SD	−1.5 ± 4.6	38.1 ± 4.7	35.5 ± 4.9
Less than or equal to −8	3	44	26
Less than or equal to −12	1	17	10
Lactate concentration, mean mmol/L ± SD	4.7 ± 3.9	…e	4.2 ± 3.3
Hyperlactatemiaf	30	…e	25
Mortality	2.5	3.6	5.0

NOTE. Data are percentage of patients, unless indicated otherwise. To compare sites, Pearson χ² tests were used to compare proportions, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare parasitemia levels, and analysis of variance was used to compare other continuous variables. P values for each comparison were < 001, except for sex (P =.21) and glucose level (P = 10). IQR, interquartile range.

^aParasite load, >500,000 parasites × 10³/μL.

^bHemoglobin level was not measured in Blantyre.

^cDefined as a hematocrit of <15% or a hemoglobin level of < g/dL.

^dGlucose level, ≤2.2 mmol/L.

^eLactate concentration was not measured in Kilifi.

^fLactate concentration, >5 mmol/L.