alaria is a life-threatening infectious disease caused by the protozoan parasite called Plasmodium. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated 660,000 deaths in 2011 directly attributed to malaria, approximately half of the world's population being at risk of infection [1]. Four main species of malaria infect humans: Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum), Plamodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale. Plasmodium falciparum is the most highly virulent species and is responsible for almost all of the 1.7-2.5 million deaths worldwide caused by malaria [2,3]. It is a leading public health problem in Ethiopia where an estimated 68% of the population lives in malarious areas and threequarters of the total land mass is regarded as malarious [4] This makes malaria the number one health problem in Ethiopia with an average of 5 million cases per year [5]. The disease causes 70,000 deaths each year and accounts for 17% of outpatient visits to health institutions [6]. The aim of this study is to asses prevalence of malaria in Arba Minch hospital.

Author: Department of Medical Microbiology, Arba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia. e-mail: [email protected] II.

During the period January to April 2010 a total of 00 patients with typical symptoms of the disease, such fever (>37.8 o C), headache and back and joint pain consistent with malaria was included in this study.

Two milliliters of venous blood samples were collected into an Ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) containing bottles for the study, using vein puncture technique [7].

b) Blood examination III.

A total of 400 patients clinically suspected to have malaria in Arba Minch Hospital were participated, of these, 238 (59.5%) were males and 162 (40.5%) were females (Table1). The overall prevalence of malaria was 7% (28 malaria cases out of 400 patients) of which 18 (64.3%) were positive for Plasmodium falciparum and 7 (25%) for Plasmodium vivax; the remaining 3 (10.7%) showed mixed infections of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax (Table 2).

Laboratory analysis was carried out after thin and thick blood films prepared according to technique out lined by Cheesbrough [7] and examined microscopically for malaria parasites under the microscope. IV.

Malaria is a major public health problem in Ethiopia. Over the past years, the disease has been consistently reported as the first leading cause of outpatient visits, hospitalization, and death in health facilities across the country [8]. In this study the overall prevalence rate of malaria was 28 (7%). This result was lower than similar studies done in Ethiopia [9,10,11] but higher than study conducted in other area [12]. This difference might be due to altitude variation and climatological differences that may contribute to a great role for breeding of Anopheles vector. The predominant Plasmodium species detected was Plasmodium falciparum, followed by Plasmodium vivax. This was in agreement with other previous studies [13][14][15][16][17]. But other a studies reported that the most prevalent species was Plasmodium vivax, followed by Plasmodium falciparum [18, 19].

Males were more infected than females, which was statistically significant (p<0.005). This is in line with the other previous studies [9,20,21]. The higher prevalence rate might be due to the fact that males engage in activities which make them more prone to infective mosquito bites as compared to females' In all age groups, malaria was reported in the study area. However, significantly affected age groups were 15-19 years old, followed by 20-29 years old. This might be associated with their daily activities. Farming is extensive in Arba Minch. Because of high temperature in this area, daily activities are accomplished especially during night. This may expose them to the bite of mosquitoes.

The occurrence of malaria depends on adequate rainfall and temperature. In areas with a temperate climate, transmission of malaria is commonly limited to months in which the average temperature is above the minimum required for sporogony [22].

V.

This study showed that there is high prevalence of malaria. Malaria has statistically significant association with sex and age. Therefore, health planners and administrators need to give intensive health education for the community on prevention and control of malaria.

Volume XIV Issue VII Version I Males 16 (4%) were more infected than females 12 (3%). Gender had statistically significant association with malaria infection (p<0.005) [Table 3].

In this study all age groups were infected but high prevalence observed in age groups 15-19, followed by 20-29 years old (Table 4).

VII.