Identification of malaria endemicity in rural areas of Nepal: A malariometric and seroepidemiological study in children

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was performed to determine malaria morbidity and malaria endemicity in children between 2-9 years of age in three villages of Southern Nepal. Malariometric survey and seroepidemiology were compared. A total of 604 children from the three villages were tested. Tulashi and Chisapani villages were found to have equal endemicity with high parasitaemia (>12%), high level of malaria antibody (>40%) and high rate of spleen (>60%) indicating a hyperendemic area. In comparison Lumbini village had low parasitaemia (<5%), low antibody level (<25%) and low spleen rate (<25%) indicating a mesoendemic area. This study would be useful for the surveillance system in identifying endemicity and effective planning of malaria control programme in these areas. The variation in endemicity for these villages are multifactorial such as human behaviour in relation to vector behaviour and gradual deterioration of health care system for malaria, which has been discussed in this study.