Burkitt's lymphoma in Ethiopian children.

Burkitt's lymphoma is the commonest malignancy seen in childhood in Ethiopia. Thirty-nine children admitted to the Ethio-Swedish Children's Hospital from January 1971 to December 1988 were studied. The male to female ratio was 1.3:1, 24(63%) were from non-malarious areas, 29(76%) came from areas with altitude above 1500 meters above sea level, 36(95%) came from areas with mean annual temperature above 16 degrees C and 35(61%) patients came from areas with mean annual rainfall above 1000 mm. The commonest presentation was abdominal mass followed by jaw swelling. Eight (20%) patients died in hospital. The geographic distribution of the tumour seems to be different from that seen in some parts of Africa. Studies with regard to Epstein-Barr virus linkage in Ethiopia are warranted.