Microalbuminuria among acutely ill febrile children

Microalbuminuria among acutely ill febrile children: Ibrahim Aliyu, Godpower Chinedu Michae, Bukar Alhaji Grema, Bashir Mariat Zubayr



International Journal of Health & Allied Sciences 2020 9(1):57-61



INTRODUCTION: Microalbuminuria has been studied in some acute and chronic illnesses such as urinary tract infection (UTI), heart failure, and diabetes mellitus, but nothing much has been said about children with malaria and pneumonia which are most common in the tropics. Therefore, this study seeks to establish how common microalbuminuria is among acute febrile children.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a prospective longitudinal study. One hundred and eighty-nine febrile children admitted for febrile illnesses who met the inclusion criteria were recruited consecutively between November 2017 and January 2018. Five milliliters of urine was tested for proteinuria using ComboStik 10 strips (DFI Co. Ltd., Gyung-Nam, Korea); positive cases were excluded from the study. Another 5 ml of urine was tested for the presence of microalbumin using ComboStik 2AC strips (DFI Co. Ltd., Gyung-Nam, Korea).

RESULTS: The age ranged from 1 year to 14 years, whereas the mean age was 5.54 ± 3.37 years. There were 138 (73%) males and 51 (27%) females, with a male-to-female ratio of 2.7:1. Most patients with malaria (57.8%), bacterial sepsis (62.5%), bronchopneumonia (42.8%), meningitis (100%), and UTI (72.0%) had high abnormal ratio; however, among the various subgroups, this was observed mostly among those with meningitis, UTI, and bacterial sepsis. The mean values and standard deviations of the age, urine creatinine, microalbumin, and the ratio of microalbumin/creatinine for the various illnesses showed higher values for UTI (age, microalbumin, and microalbumin/creatinine ratio) and bacterial sepsis (creatinine).

CONCLUSION: Microalbuminuria is common in children with febrile illnesses such as malaria, bronchopneumonia, and meningitis; therefore, usage as a screening tool for microalbuminuria should be in afebrile children.