A Cross-sectional Study on Burden of Human Malaria Infection at Pir Abdul Qadir Shah Jeelani Institute of Medical Sciences, Gambat, Pakistan

Abstract

Malaria is a major public health problem caused by Plasmodium species and is spread naturally through the bite of the female Anopheles mosquito. This study was conducted at Pir Abdul Qadir Shah Jeelani Institute of Medical Sciences, Gambat, Pakistan to determine the prevalence of malaria with respect to age, sex, and month-wise distribution. Primary and secondary data were collected during August to September 2023 and from January 2022 to July 2023, respectively. The primary dataset included 200 suspected malaria cases, while secondary data comprised records of 970 individuals, later they were sorted out for positive and negative cases. Diagnosis of malaria was performed using microscopic examination and rapid diagnostic tests. The results obtained showed that (40%) patients were positive for the malarial parasite with 40% prevalence rate. The study population revealed that male (52%) had a higher prevalence of malarial infection as compared to females (28%). The Plasmodium vivax was found 36.5% in the positive cases, while Plasmodium falciparum was 3.5%. The P. vivax in females was 89.2% and P. falciparum was 10.7%. According to results of primary data, distribution of malaria cases was found with high percentage of 44% in August compared to September with 36%. In different age groups, the age group from 1-10 years was found to be most prevalent group with the cases of 71%, the 5.3 ± 2.01 years was the average age. In the age group of 31 and above years the lowest prevalence of malaria, 32.43% was found with 34.91 ± 2.6 years of average age. The secondary data showed that female population 45.45% was more prevalent to malaria in November 2022 and the male population was more prevalent in May 2022 with 46.87%. While in 2023 the highest cases with 19.04% of female population were found in the month of March and in January maximum cases of male population were observed with 28.20%. The current work concludes that male population was more infected 52% as compared to female population 28%. The 1-10 year age group was the most prevalent, accounting for 71%. In present study the P. vivax was found to be dominant species compared to P. falciparum.