Magnitude of Malaria Infection in Chalia District, West Shoa Zone, Oromia Reginal State, Ethiopia

Abstract

Malaria is a major public health problem in worldwide and causes high morbidity and mortality. Studying its prevalence is necessary to implement effective control measures. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of malaria in Gedo Hospital, Chalia District, Ethiopia. A cross sectional study was conducted from July to December, 2013, in Gedo Hospital. A well designed and pretested structured questionnaire and laboratory investigation were used to collect data. Data was processed and analyzed with SPSS version 21.0 (IBM, USA) and also Non-parameter test, Chi-square (X²) was used to test the significant difference of the prevalence of malaria between the gender group (male and female). A total of 384 patient age ≥ 5 years old clinically suspected to have malaria were examined. Overall prevalence of malaria was 7.55% (29 malaria cases out of 384 patients) of which 19 (65.51%) were positive for Plasmodium falciparum and 8(27.58%) for Plasmodium vivax; the remaining 2(6.89%) showed mixed infections of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Of   the total of 29 positive individuals sex distribution was 21(5.47%) male and 8(2.08%) female; this showed that males were more infected than females. Gender had statistically significant association with malaria infection (p<0.05). All age groups were infected but high prevalence observed in age groups 11–20 and 5-10 followed by 21–30 years old. Therefore, health professionals and administrators have to focus on prevention and control of malaria by giving health education, awareness creation at different levels on prevention and control of malaria in the study area and in the country as well.

Keywords: Prevalence, Malaria, Ethiopia.