A Retrospective Study on the Burden of Malaria in Northeastern Ethiopia from 2015 to 2020: Implications for Pandemic Preparedness

Chala Daba; Amanuel Atamo; Sisay Abebe Debela; Edosa Kebede; Lebasie Woretaw; Daniel Gebretsadik; Daniel Teshome; Yonatal Tefera; Mesfin Gebrehiwot

doi:10.2147/IDR.S399834

A Retrospective Study on the Burden of Malaria in Northeastern Ethiopia from 2015 to 2020: Implications for Pandemic Preparedness

Infect Drug Resist. 2023 Feb 11:16:821-828. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S399834. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Chala Daba¹, Amanuel Atamo¹, Sisay Abebe Debela², Edosa Kebede³, Lebasie Woretaw¹, Daniel Gebretsadik⁴, Daniel Teshome⁵, Yonatal Tefera⁶, Mesfin Gebrehiwot¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia.
² Department of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Salale University, Fitche, Ethiopia.
³ Departement of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia.
⁴ Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia.
⁵ Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia.
⁶ Adelaide Exposure Science and Health, School of Public Health, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia.

Abstract

Background: Regardless of various prevention and control strategies, malaria continues to be a significant public health problem in Ethiopia. As there are few studies on malaria trend analysis in Northeastern Ethiopia, it hinders the evaluation of ongoing and prioritization of new malaria intervention strategies, particularly during the period of pandemics. Therefore, the present study investigated the trend of malaria prevalence in Northeastern Ethiopia from 2015 to 2020.

Methods: An institution-based retrospective study was employed to assess the trend of malaria prevalence over a 6-year period (2015-2020) in three districts (Jile tumuga, Aruma fursi, and Dawachefa) of Northeastern Ethiopia. Data were extracted from clinical records of malaria cases by trained medical laboratory technologists. The associations between the prevalence of malaria and independent variables (age group, malaria transmission season, and districts) were assessed using chi-square test. P-values with a cut-off point of 0.05 were used to determine statistically significant associations.

Results: In our study area, a total of 212,952 malaria suspected patients were diagnosed over the 6 years. Of these, 33,005 (15.5%) were confirmed malaria cases. The identified Plasmodium species were Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax, accounting for 66.4% and 33.6%, respectively. These with the age of >15 years old were the most affected (41.9%). The highest numbers of malaria cases (34.6%) were recorded during spring season (September to November). The prevalence of Plasmodium species showed a significant association with age (X²=9.7; p=0.002), districts (X²=13.5; p<0.001), and malaria transmission season (X²=16.5; p<0.001).

Conclusion: In our study area, P. falciparum is the dominant species. We noted that malaria remains a public health concern and fluctuates throughout the years. Therefore, national, regional, zonal, and district health bureaus should strengthen the ongoing and devise appropriate prevention and control strategies even during the period of pandemics.

Keywords: Northeast Ethiopia; P. falciparum and P. vivax; malaria trend; season.