Prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infection and use of different malaria control measures among primary school children in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania

Type Journal Article - Malaria journal
Title Prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infection and use of different malaria control measures among primary school children in Morogoro Municipality, Tanzania
Author(s)
Volume 14
Issue 1
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2015
Page numbers 491
URL https://malariajournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12936-015-1009-4
Abstract
Background
Malaria is a public health problem in Tanzania affecting all age groups. It is known that school children are the age group most commonly infected with malaria parasites. Their infections are usually asymptomatic, go unnoticed and thus never get treated, result in anaemia, reduced ability to concentrate and learn in school and if fallen sick may lead to school absenteeism. Effective malaria control requires frequent evaluation of effectiveness of different malaria interventions.

Methods
A cross-sectional study design involving 317 out of 350 school children aged 6–13 years from five primary schools within municipality was conducted. Multistage cluster sampling and simple random sampling methods were used to obtain primary school and study participants, respectively. Finger-prick blood samples were collected for Plasmodium parasite detection by malaria rapid diagnostic test (mRDT) and haemoglobin level assessment by Easy Touch® GHb system machine. A questionnaire was administered to assess use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and anti-malarial drugs.

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