Current status of malaria in district Pishin, Balochistan

摘要

Malaria is one of the most serious health problem in the world, caused by the vector borne disease of genus, Plasmodium. Malaria is a word derived from the Italian words ' mala ' and ' aria ' means bad air. Five species of Plasmodium parasites, P. vivax, P. falciparum, P. ovale, P. malariae and 5th specie P. knowlesi have been reported in various countries. Malarial parasite completes their life cycle in 2 hosts, one is female anopheles’ mosquitos (insect vector) and 2nd is human beings. Malaria is reported from June to September and also reported to be more common in rural areas as compared to urban areas in Pakistan. A total of 3,031 blood smears were prepared from 13 different areas of Pishin district. Plasmodium slide positivity's status was (18.8 %), P. vivax infection was higher (90.7%) as compared to P. falciparum (4.8%) and was also seen a mixed infection (5.4%). The highest P. vivax positivity rate (95.8 %) was found in Pishin Civil Hospital and the lowest in Al Shifa Lab Pishin (82.8 %). Age-wise high positivity rate (26.42%) was shown in 21-30 years age group and lowest in 1-10 age group (16.29%) due to less outdoor activities. The statistical analysis (P 0.000) showed that P. vivax and P. falciparum found a significant association at a significance level of 5 %.