Malaria Prevalence in Rice Farm Settlements South East Nigeria

Aim: Agrarian settlements in Nigeria possess a lot of factors that predisposes the populace to malaria. The present study focused on the evaluation of three-year prevalence of malaria in rice farm settlements, South-East Nigeria.

Study Design: The study was a retrospective descriptive survey designed to evaluate the prevalence of malaria infection between January 2015 and December 2017. A total of 29, 458 records were examined, 21, 559 and 7, 899 from Ebonyi and Enugu States respectively for three years (2015 – 2017). Male comprises 11, 453 of the records while the female was 18, 005.

Place and Duration: Southeastern Nigeria \ three years

Methodology: Preparation of thick films blood smears for microscopy following standard methods.

Results: Overall, 12, 746 (43.3%) were positive for malaria parasites, 7, 651 (35.4%) and 5, 115 (64.8%) from Ebonyi and Enugu respectively. Prevalence of the infection was similar between male and female in Ebonyi State (35.5% vs. 35.3%, χ2 = 0.044, df = 1, p = 0.834); but significantly higher in female compared to male in Enugu State (69.7% vs. 55.7%, χ2 = 154.808, df = 1, p = 0.0001).

Conclusion: There was high prevalence of malaria infection in rice farm settlements, south-east Nigeria.