Malaria prevalence in Bata district, Equatorial Guinea: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundMalaria has traditionally been a leading public health problem in Equatorial Guinea. After completion, in September 2011, of the integrated set of interventions against malaria launched by the Global Fund Malaria Programme in the mainland area, the epidemiological situation of malaria remains unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence rate of malaria and associated factors based on the rapid diagnosis test (RDT) in Bata district, in order to provide evidence that will reinforce the National Malaria Control Programme.MethodsFrom June to August 2013, a representative cross sectional survey using a multistage, stratified, cluster-selected sample was carried out in urban zones and rural villages from Bata district. Data on socio-demographic, health status and malaria-related behaviours was collected. Malaria diagnosis was performed by RDT. Bivariate and multivariable statistical methods were employed to assess malaria prevalence and its association with different factors.ResultsPrevalence of malaria was higher in rural settings (58.9 %; CI 95 % 55.2–62.5 %) than in the sampled urban communities (33.9 %; CI 95 % 31.1–36.9 %). Presence of anaemia was also high, especially in rural sites (89.6 vs. 82.8 %, p < 0.001). The analyses show that a positive RDT result was significantly associated with age group, the most affected age range being 13 months–14 years old. Other significant covariates were ethnic group (only in urban sites), number of adults living in the house (only in rural villages) previous history of fever, anaemia (only in urban sites) and sleeping under a bed net. Moreover, those who never slept under a bed net were two times more likely to have malaria.ConclusionThe prevalence of malaria was high in Bata district, especially in rural villages. The National Programme to fight malaria in Equatorial Guinea should take into account the differences found between rural and urban communities and age groups to target appropriately those worst affected. The findings of this study will assist in planning and undertaking regional policy and other preventive initiatives.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12936-015-0986-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Caregivers’ Malaria Knowledge, Beliefs and Attitudes, and Related Factors in the Bata District, Equatorial Guinea

“…Then, 440 households were randomly selected from an updated census from each cluster provided by the head of the village or neighbourhood. The particulars of the survey have been described previously in detail [19,20]. …”

“…Unfortunately, with the withdrawal of the GFATM funding in 2011, the EGMCI program stopped its main activities and free universal access to ACT was not sustained in mainland region of Equatorial Guinea, including the Bata District [18,19]. Despite the efforts made by the EGMCI program, the prevalence of malaria has remained high (41.2%) in the Bata district in children under 15 years of age [20]. …”

First evidence of the deletion in the pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 genes in Plasmodium falciparum from Equatorial Guinea

“…The results are read after 15-20 min; only tests containing the control band are considered valid. Participants whose RDTs produced positive results were immediately offered treatment as set out by the EG national guidelines [21].…”

Malaria outbreak in Riaba district, Bioko Island – Lessons learned

“…Other, more pernicious drivers may have aggravated the outbreak in Riaba district. First, human mobility and parasite importation from mainland Equatorial Guinea, where malaria transmission is signi cantly more intense [21], have been identi ed as important contributors to the parasite prevalence observed on Bioko Island [22][23][24]. Apart from the generation of vector breeding habitats, the construction sites in Riaba demanded a high in ux of migrant workers from mainland who could have been malaria infected and, therefore, could have increased the local parasite pool.…”