Malaria Parasitaemia and the use of insecticide-treated nets (INTs) for malaria control amongst under-5 year old children in Calabar, Nigeria

Abstract

BackgroundMalaria remains a major cause of febrile illness in Nigeria and interventions to reduce malaria burden in Nigeria focus on the use of insecticide-treated nets. This study determined the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia and the use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) for the control of malaria amongst under-five year old children in Calabar, Nigeria.MethodsA total of 270 under-5 year old children were recruited and structured questionnaires were used to obtain information on the background characteristics of the respondents from their caregivers. Capillary blood samples were collected from each of the patients through finger-pricking and tested for malaria parasites by Rapid Diagnostic Test and microscopy.ResultsAn overall parasitaemia prevalence of 32.2 % (by Rapid diagnostic test kit [RDT]) and 40.1 % (by microscopy) were obtained in this study. Forty-six (45.5 %) of the febrile patients had malaria parasitaemia (by RDT) or 41 (59.4 %) by microscopy. One hundred and fifty (55.6 %) of the caregivers acknowledged the use of nets on doors and windows for malaria prevention and control. One hundred and thirty-nine (51.5 %) mentioned sleeping under mosquito net while 138 (51.1 %) acknowledged the use of insecticide sprays. Although 191 (71.5 %) of the households possessed at least one mosquito net, only 25.4 % of the under-5 children slept under any net the night before the survey. No statistically significant reduction in malaria parasitaemia was observed with the use of mosquito nets among the under-5 children. Almost all the respondents (97.8 %) identified mosquito bite as the cause of malaria. Fever was identified by the majority of the respondents (92.2 %) as the most common symptom of malaria.ConclusionsThe findings of the study showed high prevalence of parasitaemia and that fever was significantly associated with malaria parasitaemia. Mosquito net utilization among the under-fives was low despite high net ownership rate by households. Therefore, for effective control of malaria, public health education should focus on enlightening the caregivers on signs/symptoms of both uncomplicated and complicated malaria as well as encourage the use of ITNs especially among the under-fives.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12879-016-1459-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Multi-dimensional knowledge of malaria among Nigerian caregivers: implications for insecticide-treated net use by children

“…Some studies have found positive association between community ‘education’ and increased use of bed nets, other studies reported no association and a few even found negative association [ 12 ]. Typically, health departments and other government agencies, hospitals/clinics, schools, family members, peers, church groups, and the media are critical sources of information ‘communicated’ to/with the community during net distribution [ 13 – 15 ]. Coming from so many actors on malaria control, messages may be inconsistent and even confusing [ 8 , 16 ].…”

The Impact of Malaria on the People of Anambra State Nigeria and their Response to the Disease

“…Pregnant women in their first and second pregnancies, whose immunity has decreased, along with immigrants to places where malaria has high transmission rate are also highly vulnerable [1]. Places such as the subSaharan African countries are also highly vulnerable as they maintain high transmission rate.…”

“…It was not until 1922 that John William Watson Stephens identified the fourth human malaria parasite, P. ovale (WHO, 2015). Today, P. falciparum is still an active and effective human pathogen [1].…”

“…Malaria has been identified as a major public health problem in sub-Saharan African countries such as Nigeria, where the disease's morbidity and mortality for children under 5 years of age, pregnant women and the very old is very high [1]. Malaria is one of the major causes of preventable death and the third leading cause of death among infectious diseases [3].…”

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AbstractMalaria has been identified as a major public health problem in sub-Saharan African countries such as Nigeria, where the disease's morbidity and mortality for children under 5 years of age, pregnant women and the very old is very high [1]. Anambra State and Nigeria as a country have experienced a continuous lack of access and healthcare underutilization of biomedical health services for malaria treatment and has suffered immensely due to poverty [2].

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