Abstract:
Malaria is one of the major public health problems in many tropical developing countries
including Ethiopia. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of malaria
parasite infection and to assess the people's knowledge and practices about the malaria
transmission, prevention and control measures in Afdem District Eastern Hararghe,
Eastern Ethiopia. A cross sectional study was carried out from October to December, 2014. Health records of malaria for the last five years (2009-2014) were obtained from
Afdem Health Center. A cluster random sampling technique was carried out to select
representative study participants among the community members. Structured and pretested
questionnaires (n=300) and blood films examinations were used for data
collection. All the data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. The overall prevalence of
malaria was 17%. Plasmodium species identified in this study was Plasmodium
falciparum (66.7%) followed by and P. vivax (33.3%). Malaria parasite infections
resulted in sign and symptoms such as joints ache 19(6.3%), shiver 57(17), chill 23(7.6)
and others 2(0.6). On Average, 72.3% of the participants had knowledge and awareness
about malaria parasite infections. The prevalence of malaria parasite infections were
significantly associated (P<0.05) with health education, knowledge about malaria and occupation, whereas sex, family, age, & education were not. Hence, a comprehensive
health education and promotion of community education should be given with a special
emphasis to assure that individual households use insecticide Treated Nets correctly,
adapt integrated vector control approach, and avoid misconception about cause of
malaria.
