The Prevalence of Malaria among Children in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Yalewayker Tegegne,Sintayehu Ambachew,Abebaw Worede,Adane Derso,Bernard Marchand

doi:10.1155/2021/6697294

Abstract

Background Malaria is one of the most public health important and life-threatening parasitic infections caused by the protozoan parasite. Since children are immunologically naive to the malaria parasite, they are the main vulnerable groups. During malaria infection, they might have a complication of anemia, cerebral malaria, coma, respiratory distress, and a decrease in cognitive and behavioral improvement. Therefore, this review was aimed at determining the pooled prevalence of malaria among children in Ethiopia. Methods The current systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted based on the guideline of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement guideline. Electronic bibliographic databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct were used for searching relevant literature. Besides, the Joanna Briggs Institute Meta-Analysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI) was used for critical appraisal of studies. Using the STATA 14 software, the pooled Meta logistic regression was computed to present the pooled prevalence with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Result The overall estimated pooled prevalence of malaria among children in Ethiopia was 9.07 (95% CI: 6.32, 11.82). Subgroup analysis based on malaria signs and symptoms showed that the pooled prevalence of malaria among asymptomatic and symptomatic children was 6.67% (95% CI: 0.36, 12.98) and 27.17% (95% CI: 18.59, 35.76), respectively. Conclusion The findings revealed a high prevalence of malaria among children in Ethiopia. As a result, still there is a need of improving and rechecking the existing malaria prevention and control measures of the country.

Highlights

Malaria is one of the most important public health and lifethreatening parasitic infections caused by the protozoan parasite
Children under the age of five-year were accounted for two-thirds (67%) of the world’s malaria deaths in 2018 [2]
The following electronic bibliographic databases were used for searching relevant literature: Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct, to identify studies conducted on the prevalence of malaria among children

Summary

Introduction

Malaria is one of the most public health important and life-threatening parasitic infections caused by the protozoan parasite. Since children are immunologically naive to the malaria parasite, they are the main vulnerable groups During malaria infection, they might have a complication of anemia, cerebral malaria, coma, respiratory distress, and a decrease in cognitive and behavioral improvement. The current systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted based on the guideline of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement guideline. The overall estimated pooled prevalence of malaria among children in Ethiopia was 9.07 (95% CI: 6.32, 11.82). Malaria is one of the most important public health and lifethreatening parasitic infections caused by the protozoan parasite. It is still a major concern in tropical and subtropical parts of the world. Children under the age of five-year were accounted for two-thirds (67%) of the world’s malaria deaths in 2018 [2]

Objectives

Findings

Methods

Conclusion