Risk Factors of Malaria Infection among School-Aged Children in Rural-Urban Areas, Taraba State, Nigeria

Introduction: Malaria is a mosquito born infectious disease of human and other animals caused by parasitic protozoans belonging to the genus Plasmodium. Malaria parasite among school aged children is a disease that poses a great challenge to human health in Nigeria. Malaria contributes significantly to the burden of disease especially among children less than five years. Efforts aimed in controlling malaria, prevalence is still high.

Study Design: This study was designed to investigate the risk factor associated with malaria infection among school aged children in Jalingo and Sardauna LGAs of Taraba State, Nigeria.

Place and Duration of Study: Urban-Rural areas (Jalingo ans Sardauna LGA Taraba State Nigria), studied from July-December 2022.

Methodology: Structured questionnaire was used to obtain demographic information and Microscopy was also used to determine Parasitaemia level among the school aged children (2-15years). A total of 1000 children less than 15 years old from ten (10) selected communities of the study areas whose parent or guardian gives consent were selected.

Results: The results revealed that out of the 1000 subjects, 359(35.9%) were infected with malaria parasites. Ages between 2-5 year were found to have the highest prevalence of 212(21.2%) while age 11-15 group had least prevalence of 21(2.1%). The overall prevalence of malaria parasite was moderate among the study population. This is probably due to the seasonal variation in malaria parasite intensity and the good knowledge of caregivers on malaria infection and management.

Conclusion: There is therefore the need to sustain the current media and health facility-based campaigns on malaria prevention strategy and maintenance of clean environmental condition.