Burden of Malaria in Sao Tome and Principe, 1990-2019: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Yuxin Wang; Mingqiang Li; Wenfeng Guo; Changsheng Deng; Guanyang Zou; Jianping Song

doi:10.3390/ijerph192214817

Burden of Malaria in Sao Tome and Principe, 1990-2019: Findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Nov 10;19(22):14817. doi: 10.3390/ijerph192214817.

Authors

Yuxin Wang^{1

2}, Mingqiang Li¹, Wenfeng Guo¹, Changsheng Deng¹, Guanyang Zou², Jianping Song¹

Affiliations

¹ Artemisinin Research Center, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510440, China.
² School of Public Health and Management, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 511495, China.

Abstract

Background: Malaria is a parasitic infection transmitted by mosquito vectors, commonly found in tropical regions, and characterized by high morbidity and mortality. It causes a heavy disease burden in Sao Tome and Principe (STP), an island country in West Africa which at one time had a high incidence of malaria. Objective: This study aims to analyze the trend of disease burden of malaria in STP. Methods: The crude and age-standardized incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) rate data of malaria were extracted from GBD 2019. Joinpoint 4.9 software was used to calculate the annual percentage change (APC) and the average annual percentage change (AAPC), which were also used to indicate the change in disease burden by different stages. Results: In general, the age-standardized incidence rate (ASIR), age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR), and age-standardized DALYs rate (ASDR) of malaria presented a decreasing trend between 1990 and 2019, with an average annual decrease of 5.6%, 6.2%, and 10.7%, respectively, in STP. Specifically, all indicators first presented an increasing trend from 1990 to about 2000, followed by a decreasing trend until 2019, although the incidence rebounded slightly after 2015. Overall, the ASIR, ASMR, and ASDR of malaria reduced by 77.08%, 87.84%, and 82.21%, respectively, in 2019 as compared to 1990. No significant differences in disease burden were found between males and females between 2005 and 2019. Children who were under 5 years old showed a relatively small decrease in the rate of DALYs as compared to other age groups, but remained the group with the highest disease burden of malaria in the country. Conclusions: The disease burden of malaria in STP showed a significant decrease between 1990 and 2019, but it will still be challenging to achieve the goal of eliminating malaria by 2025. The government and relevant authorities should aim to strengthen the prevention and surveillance of malaria and tailor population-specific interventions in order to reduce the disease burden of malaria in STP.

Keywords: DALY; Joinpoint regression; incidence; malaria burden; mortality.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child
Child, Preschool
Cost of Illness
Female
Global Burden of Disease*
Humans
Incidence
Malaria* / epidemiology
Male
Sao Tome and Principe

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Number 81873218 and 82074301), the Science and Technology Project of Guangdong Province (Grant Number 2021A0505030060 and 2020A0505020009), and the Science and Technology Project of Guangzhou City (Grant Number 202206010066).