Seasonal Variation Of Malara Parasitaemia In An Urban Tropical City

Abstract

There is a death of information on seasonality malaria parasitaemia in Benin City, Nigeria. Our objective was to determine the seasonal prevalence of malaria (if any) in order to assist health policy makers. We studied malaria parasite request over a twelve- month period; January to December 2001 in order to include the two main seasons in this part of the world. These seasons include the wet season, which is from May to October, and the dry season, which is from November to April. We extracted all the relevant date on malaria parasite requests from a special register designated, ‘Malaria Parasite Only' from the Medical Microbiology Laboratory of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City. A total of 2968 request for Malaria parasite were made during the period out of which 1806 (60.85%) were positive. Out of the 1806 positives samples, 72% were found in the under 5 year of age .Malaria parasitaemia was found throughout the year. There were no obvious differences between the wet and dry seasons though the highest peak of malaria parasitaemia coincided with the height of raining season (Pearson's correlation co- efficient was – 0.33). Three different species of anopheles mosquitoes could be responsible for malaria transmission at different times of the year in this environment. Various environmental and economic factors may ensure enhanced vector-parasite relationship, thus explaining the perennial transmission of malaria parasites to man. We demonstrated clearly the perennial nature of malaria infestations in Benin City though it tends to be more prevalent in the height of raining season. This finding, therefore, calls for timeless but vigorous preventive measures all year round.

KEY WORDS: Malaria parasitaemia, seasonality, Benin City, Nigeria

Nigerian Journal of Clinical Practice Vol.6(1) 2003: 30-33