Malaria baseline survey in four special regions of northern Myanmar near China: a cross-sectional study

Malaria Journal

Research

Ru-bo Wang¹  Qing-feng Zhang¹  Jun Zhang² 

[1] National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 200025, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China;WHO Collaborating Centre for Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Filariasis, 200025, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China;Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology, Ministry of Health, 200025, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China;Yunnan Office of Health Poverty Action (HPA), 650041, Kunming, People’s Republic of China;

关键词: Malaria;    Prevalence;    Health facility;    Long-lasting insecticidal bed nets;    Special regions;    Myanmar;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-13-302

 received in 2014-05-26, accepted in 2014-07-31,  发布年份 2014

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundEpidemiological data in the border area of the northern Myanmar near China are either of little accuracy or sparse of information, due to the poor public health system in these areas, and malaria cases may be severely underestimated. This study aimed to investigate malaria prevalence and health facilities for malaria services, and to provide the baseline information for malaria control in these areas.MethodsA cluster, randomized, cross-sectional survey was conducted in four special regions of northern Myanmar, near China: 5,585 people were selected for a malaria prevalence survey and 1,618 households were selected for a mosquito net-owning survey. Meanwhile, a total of 97 health facilities were surveyed on their malaria services. The data were analysed and descriptive statistics were used.ResultsA total of 761 people were found positive through microscopy test, including 290 people for Plasmodium falciparum, 460 for Plasmodium vivax, two for Plasmodium malariae, and nine for mixed infection. The average prevalence of malaria infection was 13.6% (95% CI: 12.7-14.6%). There were significant differences of prevalence of malaria infection among the different regions (P < 0.01); 38.1% (95% CI: 28.3-48.0%) of health facilities had malaria microscope examination service, and 35.1% (95% CI: 25.4-44.7%) of these had malaria treatment services, 23.7% (95% CI: 15.1-32.3%) had malaria outreach services. 28.3% (95% CI: 26.1-30.6%) of households owned one or more long-lasting insecticidal bed nets (LLINs).ConclusionThe prevalence of malaria infection was high in the four special regions of northern Myanmar, near China. Malaria services in health facilities in these areas were weak. ITNs/LLINs owning rate was also low. The cross-border cooperation mechanism should be further strengthened to share the epidemical data about malaria, support technical assistance, and conduct joint malaria control or elimination activities.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Wang et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2014