Prevalence and molecular identification of Plasmodium falciparum in symptomatic individuals in Nyala city, Sudan

Background: Malaria is one of the most important infectious diseases in tropical and subtropical regions, and 45% of the population living in areas that suffer from stable malaria transmission in Sudan. The prevalence of symptomatic Plasmodium infection based on microscopy and RDTs is poorly documented in Nyala city. This study was conducted to determine the prevalence of plasmodium infection and molecular identification of plasmodium species in Nyala city, Sudan. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2018 to December 2018 to determine the prevalence of malaria and molecular identification of plasmodium species in Nyala city, Sudan. A total of 300 suspected patients were enrolled in this study. Microscopy and RDTs were performed to estimate the prevalence and nPCR to detect the plasmodium genus and species. Results: Of 300 patients, 113 (37.7%) were positive for malaria. Plasmodium falciparum was the only prevalent species detected amongst the study population. The prevalence of plasmodium infection by microscopy and RDTs was 113 (37.7 %) and 106 (35.3 %), respectively. While PCR result showed prevalence of 47 (47%). Conclusions: This study showed that the only prevalent species identified was P. falciparum, the findings demonstrate no existence of non-falciparum malaria, and children less than five years old were the most infected patients. The diagnostic performance of microscopy was better than RDTs in the diagnosis of malaria infection.