Sitali, Lungowe (2013) Prevalence and Factors Associated with Differential Malaria Species Infections in Children Under 5 Years in Selected Zambian Popultions. Masters thesis, University of Zambia.
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PDF (Prevalence and Factors Associated with Differential Malaria Species Infections in Children Under 5 Years in Selected Zambian Popultions)
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Abstract
Introduction Malaria remains one of the treatable and preventable infectious diseases, and yet still claims more than 660,000 lives every year worldwide. Malaria diagnosis in some health facilities is based on falciparum rapid diagnostic test and hence missed the other species. Furthermore, there is no data on the prevalence of non-falciparum species in Zambia. This study sought to determine the presence of differential malarial plasmodium species and examine associated factors for infection in children in selected communities in Zambia. Methods Data stem from the 2012 population based Zambia Malaria Indicator Survey (ZMIS) for Luapula and Northern Provinces of Zambia. The MIS took place between April and May country wide. Background, social, and behavioral information were collected from households. In addition, blood slides and dried blood spots (BDS) were collected from children below 5 years. Slides were stained using giemsa and examined under a microscope. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was used to analyse the dried blood spots for malaria plasmodia species. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with differential species’ infection prevalence in the population Results Overall (n=873), prevalence of malaria by PCR was 54.3%, and the prevalence of the individual plasmodium species were P.falciparum 53.4%, P.malariea 5.0%, P.ovale 2.1% and P.vivax 0.2%. These species mostly occurred as mixed infections. The prevalence of mixed infections was 5.6%. In terms of their contribution of the species to malaria prevalence, 88% were P. falciparum; with 10.6% being mixed infections and 1.4% were non falciparum mono infections. Older children as compared to younger children were more likely have mixed infection AOR 2.8, CI 1.31-5.69, with a beta value of 0.09. Conclusion The study reveals significant high burden of malaria infection in the study population. The major factor associated with the burden of non-falciparum and falciparum malaria was the age of the child, which further supports the notion of increased exposure to environmental factors as a child grows. This might call for repackaging of additional site specific prevention and control measures grounded in local matrics. There is need to pay attention to other species but it may not be necessary to change the falciparum only RDTs as the other species mostly occur as mixed infections.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Q Science > QR Microbiology |
| Divisions: | Africana |
| Depositing User: | Geoffrey Obatsa |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Dec 2018 07:53 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Dec 2018 07:53 |
| URI: | http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/8766 |
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