Prevalence of Malaria Infection and Molecular Plasmodium Speciation in Subjects Attending Secondary Health Centres in Adamawa State, Nigeria

Background: Malaria remains a disease of concern as it continues to plunge many into economic difficulty and much suffering, claiming lives especially children under 5 years old. The study investigated prevalence of malaria infection and molecular identification of Plasmodium species in Adamawa state, Nigeria.

Methods: Health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March, 2021 to August, 2021 on subjects attending 15 secondary health facilities distributed across 3 zones in Adamawa State, Nigeria. The prevalence of Plasmodium infection was measured by light microscopic and polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) targeting Plasmodium falciparum 18S rRNA gene. Infection in relation to location, age, sex and socio-economic status was investigated. The ownership and usage of insecticidal treated mosquito nets (ITNs) were also assessed.

Results: Prevalence by mcroscopic analysis was 39.08% with total parasite density 1633048/µl, while PCR assay amplifying 18S small-subunit ribosomes RNA (SSU rRNA) gene of Plasmodium confirmed only 15.7% of isolate as asymptomatic malaria infections. P. falciparum was the only species found in the study area. Infection by geographycal locations, age, sex, socio-economic status varied significantly (P=.05). Children under 5 years of age and female subjects recorded highest infection rate by both microscopy and PCR. Shockingly only 52.3% of subjects without ITNs were infected.

Conclusion: The results indicated the need for scale-up interventions to curb the high prevalence of P. falciparum infection in the study area with special attention to children and female subjects in the population.