Methylprednisolone at 30 mg/kg i.v. for 3 days followed by 20 mg/kg fo
r 4 days was given to eight children who had been referred to Windhoek
State Hospital with onyalai. The history of previous attacks, change
in platelet count over 7 days, blood transfusion requirement and lengt
h of clinical bleeding were compared with similar parameters in a hist
orical control group of 21 untreated children who had been observed in
hospital. All the treated patients demonstrated a rise of at least 25
x 10(9)/l in the platelet count and the mean count increased from 16
x 10(9)/l on admission to 161 x 10(9)/l on day 8. In the untreated con
trol group, 38% of children did not demonstrate a rise in platelet cou
nt of 25 x 10(9)/l (p < 0.05) and the mean platelet count increased fr
om 21 x 10(9)/l to 100 x 10(9)/l on day 8. The average duration of ble
eding was 3.1 days in the controls versus 1.5 days in the treatment gr
oup. One-third of the children in both groups needed a blood transfusi
on. Total blood use amounted to 0.9 unit per child for controls and 0.
5 unit per child in the treatment group. The average cost of treatment
(drug only) was $US 44 per patient. High dose methylprednisolone ther
apy reduced the morbidity of onyalai in children in this series.