In the Absence of Effective Malaria Parasite Sentinel System- a Cross-Sectional Study to Assess Prevalence of Plasmodium spp Infection and Malaria among Patients at Federal Medical Centre Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria

Aim: This research assessed the prevalence of Plasmodium Spp infection and malaria among patients at Federal Medical Centre Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State, Nigeria

Methodology: The study utilized a retrospective cross-sectional descriptive data collected from January to December, 2018 to determine the prevalence of malaria parasite infection and prevalent Plasmodium spp infection among different age groups and sexes among patients attending Federal Medical Centre, Birnin Kebbi. We analysed secondary data of hospital records of 5,645 feverish patients attending general out patients’ department and medical laboratory department at the study area. Blood samples from the patients were collected and examined using thin and thick-blood smear slides technique for the presence or absence of parasites by trained microscopists.

Results: The prevalence of malaria parasite in the study area was 17.1%. P. falciparum was the most prevalent species of malaria parasite (99.69%) among the positive cases in the study area, while P. malariae was identified in 3 of the positive slides representing 0.31% case. Malaria positivity was highest (52.49%) among children aged 0-10years. Test of association between malaria positivity and patients’ age was statistically significant (p<0.05). Among patients who tested positive to malaria parasite, more than half (53.37%) of them were female.

Conclusion: Presence of Plasmodium malariae may be indicative of trans-border transmission of the disease due to the proximity of the study area to international border and thus calls for effective malaria parasite surveillance system and further inter boarder research.