Passive Surveillance of Malaria in Pregnant Women, Non-pregnant Women and Children Under 5 Years of Age in Bannu District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Malaria among pregnant women is one of the major causes of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, especially in high-risk areas. Therefore, our study identified the burden of malaria for pregnant women, non-pregnant women, and children under 5 years of age, and malaria service health facilities in Bannu district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. In this survey, 15,650 individuals were surveyed, and 1,283 were malaria-positive detected. The data were collected from 80 different healthcare centers. SPSS version 23 was used for data analysis. ArcGIS version 10.8 was used for study area mapping.Results: Malaria was detected in 23.3% of children under five, 4.4% of pregnant women, and 72.3% of non-pregnant women, respectively. Moreover, P. falciparum, P. vivax, and mixed infection had a prevalence of 2.1, 96.8, and 1.1%. The most often used and effective medications to treat malaria were chloroquine (29.7%) and primaquine (69.4%).Conclusion: This study's findings depict that malaria's prevalence in the non-pregnant women's group was high. Additionally, P. vivax infection was found to be more prevalent than other types of malaria infection. Due to the scarcity of healthcare facilities in this endemic region, special attention should be directed to strengthening the malaria surveillance and eradication programs.

The effect and control of malaria in pregnancy and lactating women in the Asia-Pacific region

“…P falciparum predominated in most countries, apart from in Afghanistan, Laos, Pakistan, and Thailand, where P vivax was the predominant species. 20,[24][25][26]34,35 There was marked regional heterogeneity in burden and species distribution in Lancet Glob Health 2023; 11: e1805- 18 India, where P vivax is dominant in some, but not all, areas (figure). 30 Estimates of infection using PCR were generally double those generated from light-microscopy studies, 22,27,33,39 but estimates of infection can be substantially higher when an RDT is a comparator.…”

“…Moore et al (2017) 37 Harrington et al (2021) 36 Briand et al (2016) 35 Qureshi et al (2021) 34 Ahmed et al (2019) 33 Ahmed et al (2019) 33 Ahmed et al (2019) 33 Ahmed et al (2019) 33 Ahmed et al (2015) 32 Ahmed et al (2015) 32 Poespoprodjo et al (2014) 31 Bal et al (2023) 14 Bal et al (2023) 14 Garg et al (2020) 30 Qureshi et al (2014) 29 Correa et al (2017) 28 Kuepfer et al (2019) 27 Hirani et al (2015) 26 Sohail et al (2015) 25 Bardaji et al (2017) 24 Bardaji et al (2017) 24 Singh et al (2015) 22 and Singh et al (2012) 23 Singh et al (2015) 22 and Singh et al (2012) 23 Khan et al (2014) 3 Khan et al (2014) 3…”