The Malaria Burden: A Look at 3 Years Outpatient Malaria Clinic Visits in a University Community Town in Southeast of Nigeria

Abstract

Background: One of the Nigerian vision 2020 National Malaria strategic plans
is control and subsequent eradication of malaria. The present report looks at
outpatient malaria clinic visits for a 3‑year period with a view of ascertaining
whether control measures put in place over decades are being reflected in the
decline of the disease. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted at Nsukka
in the southeast Nigeria using a cluster sampling method for the selection of health
care facilities. Collected data included patient demography, number attendees, and
the levels of parasitemia. The “Plus System Scale” was used for the grouping
of detected levels of Plasmodium parasites in the blood samples and data were
analyzed using SPSS (version 23). Results: A total of 9,531 outpatient malaria
clinic visits which consisted of females (67.5%) and males (32.5%) were used
for the report. The difference in the number of males and female malaria clinic
attendees was statistically significant [P < 0.05]. Examined blood samples showed
87.25% were positive with Plasmodium falciparum parasites with various levels
of parasitemia. There were also negative Plasmodium parasites blood samples
with mean scores of 67 (±22.62), 92.63 (±9.97), and 353 (±179.6) for years
2013, 2014, and 2015, respectively. Most (43.47%) of the patients were in the
age group of 21–30 and while parasitemia was seen to be higher in this group
(21–30). Conclusion: The incidence of malaria in the region of this study is still
high despite the effects made at reducing the scourge of the disease and would
need timely intervention.
Keywords: Age, burden, disease, gender, malaria, outpatient, parasitemia