‘Delay is catastrophic’: how simple solutions could save thousands of African children in comas

A health worker gives a child a malaria vaccine in Nigeria. Analysis published in the Lancet Global Health shows that most children who go into a coma have a severe complication of malaria. Photograph: Sunday Alamba/AP

For the hundreds of children who arrive every day at hospitals in parts of Africa unconscious and unresponsive, their survival chances have remained unchanged for nearly 50 years. But new research ihas suggested that a different – and simpler – approach could improve those chances.

Despite huge strides in healthcare and vaccination rates for children in sub Saharan Africa, the odds remain poor for those who become so ill they fall into a coma. Depending on the cause, between 17% and 45% are expected to die. Many more will be left with disabilities.