Seasonal Variation of Malaria Parasite Density in Paediatric Population of North Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children and adults in the Sudano Sahel of Northeastern Nigeria with the highest prevalence of malaria in pregnancy of 64.5 in Nigeria recorded in this region. This study was carried out in 2003 and 2004 to provide parasitological baseline data for the development of Malaria Early Warning System (MEWS) for the surveillance of type I epidemic caused by meteorological conditions and to provide data for timing malaria key vector control measures such as Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) for maximum effect. Clinical information about malaria cases were used in this study. In all 692 children aged 6 to 96 months were screened for Plasmodium infection and used for the analysis. The results showed that the majority of infected children (68.06%) were aged 12-60 months and their asexual parasite density (ap/ u1) was between 100-500 ap/u1 of the whole blood. The month of September recorded the highest Geometric Mean Asexual-Densities (GMPD) of 13,655 while the lowest parasite densities were observed at the peak of the dry season, especially during the months of March and April. Significance difference (p<0.05) was observed between the sexes in infection rate. It is obvious that male children have higher infection rate (about 67.5%), than while female children (32.5%) regardless of climate seasonality. Designing a malaria early warning system and providing baseline parasitological data for timing of spraying cycles for key malaria vector control measures such as Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) should be encouraged to complement other effective malaria control strategies. Hence the need for this investigation.

High malaria parasitemia among outpatient febrile children in low endemic area, East-Central Tanzania in 2013

“…There are relatively few studies in Tanzania reporting parasite density, a report in Muheza [22] had comparable findings with ours, whereas low density among children is reported in other places [23,24]. In other countries also reports indicate low parasitaemia in a high proportion of children [25,26], however, the high parasite densities recorded during the rainy seasons were comparable with findings from Nigeria [27]. The overall malaria prevalence reported here was higher compared to the data from the 2011-2012 malaria indicator survey (13%) for the Morogoro region [28], and P. falciparum accounted for 99% of cases.…”

Variation of malaria cases, parasite density and the multiplicity of Plasmodium falciparum infection throughout the year at three different health centers in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo

“…This could be due to environmental particularities including the humidity relative to the presence of swampy areas around the Hôpital de Mfilou as well as the "Fleuve Congo" river, surrounding the CSI «Maman Mboualé», which may maintain the multiplication of mosquitos until the beginning of dry seasons, while low level of humidity may influence mosquitos multiplication at the beginning of the rainy season. The outcome of this study is in agreement with those in Nigeria [34][35][36]. Additionally, persistence of high proportions of malaria cases and mean parasite densities at the beginning of dry seasons and their lower values at the beginning of rainy seasons may also be due to climate change observe in Brazzaville.…”

Social and environmental determinants of malaria in under five children in Nigeria: a review

“…Every year, more than 50% of the adult population suffer at least one episode of malaria, while children under five suffer an average of 2-4 malaria attacks per year. 8,9,14 In 2007, for example, there were 2,969,950 reported cases and 10,289 reported malaria related mortalities. Currently, it is estimated that 66% of all hospital visits and at least 30% of hospitalisations are due to malaria.…”