SEROEPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDY OF PREVALENCE OF MALARIA IN VILLAGE SOLANA, UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA

Abstract

The roles of causative factors responsible for prevalence of malaria in the village of Solana, India, were studied. Mosquitoes and larvae density in and around the area were measured by process of random sampling and counting their numbers under microscopy. Malaria in population of the village was diagnosed by standard ELISA method and malaria antibody capturing level were measured against three Plasmodium falciparum antigens. The effect of insecticides for the control of malaria was also evaluated. Results of study showed that more than two third of village human populations (75%) were suffering from malaria, with 67.14% being children below 14 years of age. Similarly vectors identification study showed Anopheles culicifacies and Anopheles stephensi as the main source for infection transmission. Sporozoite positive rate estimated in Anopheles culicifacies was found to be 1.26%. Both vectors were resistant to DDT and Malathion insecticides. Antibody capturing by three different Plasmodium falciparum antigens study showed that glycophospholipid antigen (GPL) was able to capture and detect highest amount of malarial antibody followed by sonicated Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) antigen and ring infected erythrocyte surface antigen (RESA) i.e. 0.69±0.22, 0.60±0.22 and 0.59±0.23 respectively. Age specific antibody levels was found to gradually increase from lowest to highest age groups i.e. 0.29– 1.18 for GPL, 0.25-0.94 for RESA and 0.25-0.97 for Pf. The study showed that infants and children are highly prone to malaria attacks than the adult population, which may be as a result of low level of Plasmodium antibody in their circulation.


Key Words: Solana village, endemicity, malaria incidence, antibodies, ELISA, insecticides.


African Journal Of Clinical And Experimental Microbiology Jan 2004 Vol.5 No.1 2-14