Prevalence and Factors Responsible for Asymptomatic Malaria Reservoir of Plasmodium Falciparum Among Adults in Nasarawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

Asymptomatic malaria is prevalent in highly endemic areas of Africa, with only a small percentage of individuals exhibiting clinical symptoms. The clinical consequence of asymptomatic malaria is not fully understood. Some researchers are of the view that asymptomatic parasitaemia is involved in the development of partial immunity and may protect against clinical disease from new infections. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of malaria reservoir of plasmodium falciparum among adult people of Nasarawa state of Nigeria and to identify the factors associated with malaria in this category of people. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among selected local government areas of the state. The outcome variable was the presence or absence of malaria in which its asscoiation with demographic information, knowledge and awareness, measures and control, environmental factors are tested. The local government areas were observed to have reported the highest positivity rate of malaria between 2017 to 2022. The study was conducted from August 2022 to April 2023. A semi-structured questionnaire was employed to collect socio-demographic data and other associated risk factors by trained health professionals. Body temperature and other clinical manifestations were examined to identify the asymptomatic individuals. This examination was carried out after selection of individuals from households before mRDT is conducted. Data entry and analysis was carried out using SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) version 20 software. The results obtained are very desirable.