Trend of Malaria Morbidity and Associated Factors in Finchea Sugar Factory, Western Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Malaria is one of the major public health problems in sub-Saharan countries, including Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, more than 75% of the total area is malarious. Despite the efforts made in prevention and control of malaria, malaria continues to be one of the major public health problems in the country including the study area. The objective of the study was to assess the trends of malaria morbidity and its associated factors in Finchea Sugar Factory. Methods: The study was used retrospective cross sectional survey from 2011 to 2015. The data were retrieved from the record of health center from February to March 2017. A total of 1184 malaria registered records were retrieved. Medical records were reviewed by trained data collectors. Data were analyzed by using descriptive, bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models; and also metrological data and malaria morbidity trends were presented using line graphs. P value ≤0.05 was considered as a cut off value for statistical significance. Results a total of 89,974 blood films were requested for malaria diagnosis in Finchea Sugar Factory health center. Of this a total of 17,729 (19.7%) microscopically confirmed malaria cases were reported in the health center with mean malaria cases of 3,545.8. A maximum 6546(27.6%) microscopically confirmed cases of malaria cases in 2012 and a minimum 691(6.5%) number of microscopically confirmed malaria cases being reported in 2015. Conclusion: Though the trends of malaria in the study area is declined during the study period, it is continue as a serious public health issue. Furthermore, most of the infected patient were male (65.5%), and from Agemsa village/area with proportion of (70.6%). Plasmodium vivax was the predominant plasmodium in the study area . Thus, malaria prevention and control efforts should be strengthened by involving workers of the factory and local health authorities.