Sero-Prevalence of Malaria among Children's Visit to a Teaching Hospital

Malaria is known to everyone as a serious and major health issue that is transmitted through mosquitoes. Both urban and rural areas are affected by this health problem. The present study was therefore conducted to determine the sero-prevalence of malaria in children visiting Mardan medical complex Mardan, Pakistan. This study was carried out from January 2018 to December 2018 in Mardan medical complex Mardan, Pakistan. Children having age ranging from two months to 15 years were included in the study. All the included children in our study were with signs and symptoms of malaria. 300 samples were collected totally from children of different ages. Thick and thin smears were prepared from the blood of suspected malaria patients. Out of 300 samples, 90 samples (30%) were found to be malaria positive. The species of plasmodium found in our study were P.vivax 54(60%) and P.falciparum 36(40%). While there was no case of mixed infections in our study. Prevalence of malaria among positive cases was higher in male 50 (55.55%) in comparison to female 40(44.44%). In the age group ≥5 year’s higher rate of infections was found while the lowest rate of infection was found in the age group 11-15 years. In August, the highest rate (20%) of infections was found while the lowest rate of infection (3.33%) was observed in March. Our study concluded that in district Bannu malaria is the most common public health issue. Both species of plasmodium, P.vivax and P.falciparum were found to have existed in district Bannu. In our study it was concluded that P.vivax is highly prevalent in comparison to P.falciparum. Elimination of poverty, to aware the people about malaria, economic development and to facilitate health adequately are the main factors in district bannu and southern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to eliminate malaria.