PREVALANCE OF MALARIA IN EASTERN AREAS OF BALUCHISTAN AT BORDERS OF OTHER PROVINCES

Objective: The objective of the study was to decide the occurrences of parasites causing malaria in far flung human populations of Balochistan.

Methodology: A large group of 3340 subjects was examined for malarial parasites by testing the blood samples during the timeframe of 2 years i.e. July 2015 to June 2017.

Results: The laboratory tests revealed that 1095 (32.78%) cases were diagnosed with malaria out of total suspected sample of 3340. Among 1095 infected cases, 579 were due to Plasmodium falciparum infection and 516 cases were infected with Plasmodium vivax. No other malarial parasites (P malariae and P ovale) were noticed in our case.

Conclusion: The incidences of falciparum and ovale plasmodium were observed in Barkhan and Kohlu   border areas of Balochistan. The existence of P. falciparum and P. vivax is a great health hazard because both the infections are closely associated with drastic complications such as cerebral malaria.  No significant relation could be developed among the malarial parasites and subjects’ age groups.

Key Words: Malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax.