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Malaria is a disease that affects millions of people around the world, especially in tropical and subtropical regions. There are 5 species of the genus Plasmodium that cause the disease (P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. vivax and P. knowlesi), which can be complicated by the development of progressive glomerulonephritis and chronic malaria nephropathy. The aim of this study is to analyze epidemiological data on mortality from acute kidney injury (AKI) and malaria in Brazil, looking for a correlation.
This is an ecological study with a quantitative approach, using Vital Statistics - General Mortality from DATASUS (public health system data set from Brazil), from 2009 to 2019. The variables of region, gender and age group were evaluated, both for malaria and AKI.
In the malaria mortality sample, there were a total of 359 deaths from 2009 to 2019, 76.6% in the North region, followed by Southeast (8.9%), Central-West (5.8%), Northeast (5%) and South (3.6%). Regarding AkI, 45,022 were certified in Brazil, predominantly in the Southeast region, corresponding to 44.4%, followed by the Northeast, with 25.7%. Regarding the incidence by gender, there was a predominance in males (53.8%), with absolute numbers of 24,247. Regarding age distribution, there is a higher prevalence of deaths caused by AKI in patients older than 80 years, corresponding to 17,360 (38.5%). As for malaria, in the distribution by sex, mortality predominates in males (56.5%), mainly in those living in the North region (72.9%), while data based on age group, there is a greater incidence in individuals aged between 20 and 60 years (54.5%).
Comparing the data regarding malaria and AKI, there is not such an evident relationship, in epidemiological terms, regarding the regions with the highest prevalence and age groups most affected by the two conditions. Such information deserves further studies to establish a clearer epidemiological profile, thus being able to outline effective measures to reduce cases of AKI due to malaria and implement more targeted preventive and therapeutic measures. In relation to sex, the conditions evaluated showed a higher prevalence in men.