Malaria epidemiology in the Ahafo area of Ghana

Malaria Journal

Research

Charles Brown¹  Christine Mensah²  Martin Adjuik³  David Dosoo⁴  Dominic B Dery⁴  George Adjei⁴  Seth Owusu-Agyei⁴  Seeba Amenga-Etego⁴  Kofi Tchum⁴  Charles Zandoh⁴  Kwaku P Asante⁴  Gary Krieger⁵  Chris Anderson⁶  Kwabena B Owusu-Sekyere⁶  Yaw Antwi-Dadzie⁶ 

[1] College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana;HealthLink Consulting, P.O. Box AN 6811, Accra-North, Ghana;INDEPTH Network Secretariat, P. O. Box KD 213, 11 Mensah Wood Street, East Legon, Kanda, Accra, Ghana;Kintampo Health Research Centre, Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Health, P. O. Box 200, Kintampo, Ghana;Newfields, 730 17th Street Suite 925, 80202, Denver, CO, USA;Newmont Ghana Gold Limited, C825/26 Lagos Avenue East, Legon, Accra, Ghana;

关键词: Malaria;    Mining Area;    Malaria Control;    Household Head;    Anopheles Gambiae;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-10-211

 received in 2011-02-26, accepted in 2011-07-29,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPlasmodium falciparum malaria remains endemic in sub-Saharan Africa including Ghana. The epidemiology of malaria in special areas, such as mining areas needs to be monitored and controlled. Newmont Ghana Gold Limited is conducting mining activities in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana that may have an impact on the diseases such as malaria in the mining area.MethodsPrior to the start of mining activities, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2006/2007 to determine malaria epidemiology, including malaria parasitaemia and anaemia among children < 5 years and monthly malaria transmission in a mining area of Ghana.ResultsA total of 1,671 households with a child less than five years were selected. About 50% of the household heads were males. The prevalence of any malaria parasitaemia was 22.8% (95% CI 20.8 - 24.9). Plasmodium falciparum represented 98.1% (95% CI 96.2 - 99.2) of parasitaemia. The geometric mean P. falciparum asexual parasite count was 1,602 (95% CI 1,140 - 2,252) and 1,195 (95% CI 985 - 1,449) among children < 24 months and ≥ 24 months respectively. Health insurance membership (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.45 - 0.80, p = 0.001) and the least poor (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.37 - 0.90, p = 0.001) were protected against malaria parasitaemia. The prevalence of anaemia was high among children < 24 months compared to children ≥ 24 months (44.1% (95% CI 40.0 - 48.3) and 23.8% (95% CI 21.2 - 26.5) respectively. About 69% (95% CI 66.3 - 70.9) of households own at least one ITN. The highest EIRs were record in May 2007 (669 ib/p/m) and June 2007 (826 ib/p/m). The EIR of Anopheles gambiae were generally higher than Anopheles funestus.ConclusionThe baseline malaria epidemiology suggests a high malaria transmission in the mining area prior to the start of mining activities. Efforts at controlling malaria in this mining area have been intensified but could be enhanced with increased resources and partnerships between the government and the private sector.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Asante et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011