Prevalence of Malaria and Predisposing Factors to Antimalarial Drug Resistance in Southwestern Nigeria
No Thumbnail Available
Date
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Academic Journals
Abstract
Description
High transmission rate and drug resistance have been implicated in the spread and
re-emergence of malaria in areas where the disease had been eradicated. The objective of this study
was to determine the prevalence of falciparum malaria and pre-disposing factors to malaria among
patients presenting with fever in selected State Hospitals in Ogun State, Southwestern Nigeria.
Four thousand and sixty six patients were recruited into this study. Scientific and Ethical clearance
was obtained for this study. Blood samples were collected for malaria screening from the subjects.
Structured questionnaires were administered to patients and parents of infants to determine the
factors that could lead to the development of drug resistance by the parasite in the study
population. Out of 4066 subjects screened during the study period, 61.1% were positive for
falciparum malaria. Highest prevalence of 70.8% was recorded in children 1-5 years, also the group
with highest parasitemia (1080). The study showed that 24.6% of the patient visited hospitals for
treatment, 12% use local healers while 25.0% bought antimalarial drugs without prescription.
Moreover, some subjects use more than one method in their management of malaria. Those who
combined antimalarial drugs with traditional medicine from local healers were 17.4%. Only 18%
of the sample population used insecticide treated mosquito nets, 42.3% used window and door nets,
while 13% did not employ any mosquito preventive method. Uncontrolled use of drugs and exposure
of parasites to the drugs should be monitored in areas where the parasite is still sensitive to the
drug.
Keywords
R Medicine (General)