Hospital-based study of malaria in University of Nigeria Medical Centre, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

A hospital-based study on malaria was carried out at the University of Nigeria Medical Centre in Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria between 2016 and 2021. Data with diagnoses for malaria cases; such as person count and sex distribution were received from the Hospital's Records Department and extrapolated before being entered into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. A total of 33,792 cases of malaria were noted in the hospital's medical records. The results of this study also demonstrated that the report of malaria cases in 2020 was lowest due to the COVID-19 lockdown, while that of 2019 was the highest. The mean annual malaria cases varied over the other years. In total, there were 13,705 cases of malaria in males compared to 20,087 cases in females (40.6 vs. 59.4%). The number of malaria cases in males and females varied significantly (F = 27.74, p = 0.0001). The high rate of malaria cases at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka suggests that further malaria intervention and prevention strategies, such as the free distribution of insecticide-treated mosquito nets, are required to achieve the goal of drastic reduction of malaria infection in the study area. The government should also ensure that medical facilities are strengthened with adequate tools and a steady supply of affordable and high-quality drugs.