Prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infection and use of different malaria control measures among primary school children in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania

Malaria Journal

Research

Baraka J. Nzobo¹  Billy E. Ngasala¹  Charles M. Kihamia¹ 

[1] Department of Parasitology and Medical Entomology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, PO Box 65011, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania;

关键词: Asymptomatic;    Malaria;    School children;    ITN use;    ACT;    Municipality;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12936-015-1009-4

 received in 2015-02-24, accepted in 2015-11-24,  发布年份 2015

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundMalaria is a public health problem in Tanzania affecting all age groups. It is known that school children are the age group most commonly infected with malaria parasites. Their infections are usually asymptomatic, go unnoticed and thus never get treated, result in anaemia, reduced ability to concentrate and learn in school and if fallen sick may lead to school absenteeism. Effective malaria control requires frequent evaluation of effectiveness of different malaria interventions.MethodsA cross-sectional study design involving 317 out of 350 school children aged 6–13 years from five primary schools within municipality was conducted. Multistage cluster sampling and simple random sampling methods were used to obtain primary school and study participants, respectively. Finger-prick blood samples were collected for Plasmodium parasite detection by malaria rapid diagnostic test (mRDT) and haemoglobin level assessment by Easy Touch® GHb system machine. A questionnaire was administered to assess use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and anti-malarial drugs.ResultsThe prevalence of asymptomatic malaria was 5.4 % (95 % CI 3.3–8.6 %) and anaemia was 10.1 % (95 % CI 7.2–13.9 %). School children aged 6–9 years were more affected by malaria than those aged 10–13 years. The proportion of ITNs used was 90.6 % (95 % CI 86.3–93.9 %) while that of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) was 71.9 % (95 % CI 66.2–77.1 %).ConclusionFindings show existence of asymptomatic malaria and walking anaemia among primary school children in Morogoro municipality. The majority of school children reported use of ITNs and ACT for malaria control. These findings provide a rationale for using schools and school children to assess effectiveness of malaria interventions.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Nzobo et al. 2015