Eight-year trend analysis of malaria prevalence in Kombolcha, South Wollo, north-central Ethiopia: a retrospective study

Abstract

BackgroundMalaria is one of the most serious public health problems in the world, and is a major public health problem in Ethiopia. Over the past years, the disease has been consistently reported as the first leading cause of outpatient visits, hospitalization and death in health facilities across the country. This study aimed to assess malaria prevalence trend in the Kombolcha Health Centre.MethodsA retrospective study was carried out in the Kombolcha Health Centre, north-central Ethiopia. Malaria cases reported from 2009 to 2016 were carefully reviewed from the laboratory record books. Interventions that had been taken in each year were collected from the district health bureau and head of Kombolcha Health Centre using checklists.ResultsA total of 27,492 blood films were examined from malaria-suspected patients in the Kombolcha Health Centre from 2009 to 2016. Malaria was confirmed and reported in 2066 (7.52%) of the examined blood films with 258 mean annual cases of. Minimum and maximum cases were reported in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax accounted 60.2% and 35.5% of the cases, respectively. Male patients were more affected (n = 1407; 68.1%) than female ones (n = 659; 31.89%). The highest malaria prevalence (n = 1440; 69.69%) was seen in the 15–45 years age group, followed by those 5–14 years old (n = 303; 14.67%), and finally patients under five years old (n = 217; 10.5%). Malaria cases were at a peak in spring and reduced in the winter season.ConclusionAlthough the current malaria control strategies are effective in decreasing the morbidity and mortality, malaria is still among major public health problems in Ethiopia. Plasmodium falciparum is the dominant species in the study area. However, in recent years P. vivax cases are increasing, indicating that attention should also be given to this species. The efficacy of chloroquine for P. vivax should be evaluated in the study area. Control activities should be continued and scale up.

A five year trend analysis of malaria prevalence in Guba district, Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, western Ethiopia: A retrospective study

“…Concerning distribution of malaria prevalence by age groups, majority of reported cases were in the age group of subjects greater 15 years and above, followed by the age group 5-14 years, and under ve children. Such results have been reported by other studies [14,22,29], where males in this age groups are more susceptibility to malaria infections. In this rural area, males in the reproductive age groups (≥15 years old) are commonly breadwinners of their families, spending most of their time especially evenings outdoors when the peak biting activity of the infective mosquito is observed [30].…”

Trend of malaria prevalence in Wolkite health center: an implication towards the elimination of malaria in Ethiopia by 2030

“…In the present study, Plasmodium infection was nearly equal with only slight variation among males and females which was comparable with a study conducted in Wolaita zone [19]. This finding was in contrast with the majority of the study done in Ethiopia [25,26] where males were highly affected by malaria than females. Both males and females are involved in outdoor activities especially males in the agricultural activities and most females travel to town for the market thus, they are exposed to the bite of Anopheles mosquitoes.…”

Analysis of the trend of malaria prevalence in Ataye, North Shoa, Ethiopia between 2013 and 2017

“…The minimum and maximum number of cases was recorded in 2013 and 2017, respectively. In this study, the confirmed malaria cases was higher than reported from other similar retrospective studies conducted in Bahirdar city 740 (5.0%) and Kombolcha town (2066, 7.52%), Ethiopia [3, 11]. However, the observed number of malaria cases was lower than reported [12, 13].…”