Mothers Management of Malaria Fever among Under-Five Nomadic Fulani Children of Northeastern Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria is a deadly disease which is spread widely in the tropical regions of the world with holoendemicity in SubSaharan Africa. An investigation of fever management among mothers of under-five children was carried out in nomadic Fulani settlements of Adamawa State Nigeria. Management of fever was assessed through interviews and questionnaires. Nearly half of the nomadic Fulani mothers (49.47%) did not take any action within 24 hours when their children had fever. This was not significantly different (p < 0.05) with regard to age, clan and parity of the mothers. The duration between mother’s recognition and management of fever showed that almost half (49.6%) of the mothers did not take time into consideration during intervention of fever. Mothers of under-five who acted within 24 hours of noticing of fever in their children were 30.6%, while those who acted after 24 hours were 12.0%. There was no significant difference (p < 0.05) between mothers recognition of fever and management based on age, clan and parity. Home management of fever by most nomadic Fulani mothers was not satisfactory. Similarly, timely intervention of fever was not considered by most nomadic Fulani mothers. There is the need for appropriate education and adoption of new strategies for timely intervention of disease causing fever among the nomadic Fulani population.