Molecular epidemiology of malaria parasite amongst patients in a displaced people’s camp in Sudan

Abstract

Background: Despite the importance of epidemiological studies in the development of effective control strategies and provision of basic health services for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), data on the prevalence of malaria are limited. Thus, this study was conducted to estimate the molecular prevalence of malaria amongst the displaced population in Ardamata IDP camp in Al-Geneina City, Sudan. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2018 to December 2018 to estimate malaria prevalence amongst the displaced population in Ardamata IDP camp in Al-Geneina City, Sudan. A total of 380 patients with suspected malaria were recruited. Nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) assays were performed to detect the Plasmodium genus and species. Results: Of 380 patients, 232 (61.1%) were positive for malaria. Plasmodium falciparum was the only prevalent species detected amongst the study population. nPCR analysis revealed that none of the samples had Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale or Plasmodium malariae. The malaria prevalence rate was higher amongst males (67.1%) than in females (56.8%), and gender was the only risk factor that was significantly associated with malaria infection (p = .042). Conclusions: Despite control programmes, malaria remains a significant cause of illness amongst a displaced population. The high prevalence of malaria infection in this study indicates that additional health facilities and control strategies should be implemented in displaced camps and the surrounding areas.

Malaria coinfection with Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in children at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Benin City, Nigeria

“…The high rate of P. falciparum malaria (67.93%) observed in this survey is similar to 61.1% observed among IDPs in Sudan by Eshag et al. (2020) but higher than 58% recorded by Brooks et al.…”

“…The high rate of P. falciparum malaria (67.93%) observed in this survey is similar to 61.1% observed among IDPs in Sudan by Eshag et al (2020) 2018) with 63.7% prevalence in Nigeria but higher than 41.7% reported by Teh et al (2018) in Cameroon. The presence of female Anopheles mosquitoes and infected blood as well as bushes and small bodies of standing water are significant in the epidemiological study of malaria.…”

“…This probably resulted because both sexes were exposed equally to predisposing factors to P. falciparum malaria. Contrastingly, Zhou et al (2016) and Eshag et al (2020) documented significantly higher prevalence in internally displaced male children in Myanmar and Sudan respectively whereas Brooks et al (2017b) recorded slightly higher prevalence in females in IDP camp in the DRC. Additionally, no significant difference in the rate of malaria infection among the different age groups was documented in the current study agreeing with past studies (Sousa-Figueiredo et al, 2012;Okoli and Solomon, 2014).…”

“…Contrastingly, Zhou et al. (2016) and Eshag et al. (2020) documented significantly higher prevalence in internally displaced male children in Myanmar and Sudan respectively whereas Brooks et al.…”

Plasmodium falciparum isolate with histidine-rich protein 2 gene deletion from Nyala City, Western Sudan

“…The presence of P. falciparum infection was further confirmed by species-specific nested PCR by using a small subunit ribosomal RNA (ssrRNA) gene via a previously described two-step procedure 28 . Plasmodium -specific primers were first used, and the PCR product of the positive samples was used as a template in a multiplex PCR system through species-specific primers.…”