PREVALENCE AND DISTRIBUTION OF MALARIA BY SEX, AGE GROUPS AND SPECIES IN YEAR 2019 IN SUSPECTED MALARIAL POPULATION OF DISTRICT D.I.KHAN, PAKISTAN

Abstract

Background: Malaria is communicable disease that exists worldwide and is a cause of morbidity and mortality. Our objectives were to determine the prevalence and distribution of malaria by sex, age groups and species in year 2019 in suspected malarial population of District D.I.Khan, Pakistan.Materials Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Department of Community Medicine, Gomal Medical College, D.I.Khan, Pakistan from October 1, 2020 to October 31, 2020. The data for malaria was retrieved from office of Frontier Primary Healthcare, D.I.Khan for 2019. A sample of 108,849 was calculated from population at risk of 1,306,655, with 0.258154 margin of error, 99% CI and 13.843% assumed prevalence of malaria. Sex, age groups, species and presence of malaria were our four nominal variables. Prevalence and distribution were described by count and percentage with 95% confidence intervals. Four hypotheses for prevalence and distribution were verified by chi-square goodness of fit test.Results: Out of a sample of 108,849 suspected malarial cases, 9,568 (8.79%, 95%CI, 8.62-8.95%) were positive. Out of 9,568 positive cases, 5,406 (4.97%) were men and 4,162 (3.82%) women, 1,062 (0.98%) in age group up to 5 years and 8,506 (7.81%) in age group 5 years and 9,121 (8.38%) were Plasmodium vivax, 437 (0.40%) were Plasmodium falciparum and 10 (0.009%) were mixed malarial infections. Our prevalence of malaria 8.79% was lower to 13.843% expected (p=.00001). Our distribution across sex (p=.00001), age groups (p=.03231) and species (p=.00001) were not similar to expected.Conclusion: The prevalence of malaria in year 2019 in suspected malarial population of District D.I.Khan, Pakistan was 8.79%. The prevalence was lower than expected for our population. The prevalence was higher for men, older age group (5 years) and for Plasmodium vivax. The prevalence for men was higher than expected for men and vice versa for women. The prevalence for age group up to 5 years was higher than expected for age group up to 5 years and vice versa for age group 5 years. The prevalence for Plasmodium vivax was higher than expected for Plasmodium vivax and vice versa for Plasmodium falciparum and mixed cases.