Impact of Titanium Mining and Other Anthropogenic Activities on Malaria Positivity Rates and Parasitemia in Five Selected Study Sites in Msambweni Subcounty, Kwale County, Kenya.

IF 1.4 Q3 PARASITOLOGY
Journal of Parasitology Research Pub Date : 2025-02-05 eCollection Date: 2025-01-01 DOI:10.1155/japr/6967797
Edward Githinji, Collins Okoyo, Cassian Mwatele, Juma Mwatasa, Benard Chieng, Sylvie Araka, Henry Kanyi, Sammy Njenga, Judy Mwai
{"title":"Impact of Titanium Mining and Other Anthropogenic Activities on Malaria Positivity Rates and Parasitemia in Five Selected Study Sites in Msambweni Subcounty, Kwale County, Kenya.","authors":"Edward Githinji, Collins Okoyo, Cassian Mwatele, Juma Mwatasa, Benard Chieng, Sylvie Araka, Henry Kanyi, Sammy Njenga, Judy Mwai","doi":"10.1155/japr/6967797","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Africa was home to 95% of malaria cases and deaths in 2021. The negative impacts of malaria can be aggravated by social-economic-environmental factors, more so agroeconomic practices such as irrigation, mining, and dam construction. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of water harvesting, sugarcane farming, and mining activities on <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> positivity rates and parasitemia densities in five selected sites in Msambweni Subcounty, Kwale Kenya. A cross-sectional concurrent mixed methods study was used to collect data. Kwale County was selected due to the high malaria endemicity possibly attributable to the suitable vector habitat characterized by the major anthropogenic activities. The study had five different arms of investigation; the first arm was the control (C), second dam (D) site, third sugarcane (S) site, fourth mining (M) site, and fifth dam-sugarcane-mining (DMS) site. Each of the 1025 consenting participants from 208 households provided a single blood sample for determining malaria prevalence and parasitemia using rapid diagnostic kit and microscopy. Overall, the malaria positivity rate was 22.9% by rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) and 20.1% by microscopy. <i>P. falciparum</i> observation by RDT was highest in the DMS site with 33.7% followed by S site with 26.8%, D site with 23.3%, and M site with 17.6%, and the least was the C site with 11.0%. The overall parasitemia density (parasite counts per 200 white blood cells) was 8.4 with a site-specific density of 18.7, 8.6, 7.1, 3.7, and 3.1 for DMS, S, D, M, and C sites, respectively. Univariable analysis of factors associated with malaria infection showed that participants in the DMS site were four times more likely to be infected with malaria (odds ratio (OR) = 4.1, <i>p</i> < 0.001) compared to those in the C site. Malaria vector and human host interactions are often enhanced by suitable environmental conditions especially ambient temperature which accelerate parasite growth in the mosquito and humidity. Anthropogenic activities may open up new breeding sites for the vector or increase human-<i>Anopheles</i> infective contact hours, hence the different positivity rates and intensities in <i>P. falciparum</i> transmission. The study results showed that prevalence of malaria and parasitemia was highest in areas where all the three anthropogenic activities were taking place. In the single-activity site, sugarcane farming predisposed participants to high malaria burden. Characterized relational interplay between these anthropogenic activities and <i>P. falciparum</i> parasitemia will be useful in developing tailored strategies towards optimized malaria control interventions in areas with and without anthropogenic activities.</p>","PeriodicalId":16662,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Parasitology Research","volume":"2025 ","pages":"6967797"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11824397/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Parasitology Research","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1155/japr/6967797","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PARASITOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Africa was home to 95% of malaria cases and deaths in 2021. The negative impacts of malaria can be aggravated by social-economic-environmental factors, more so agroeconomic practices such as irrigation, mining, and dam construction. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of water harvesting, sugarcane farming, and mining activities on Plasmodium falciparum positivity rates and parasitemia densities in five selected sites in Msambweni Subcounty, Kwale Kenya. A cross-sectional concurrent mixed methods study was used to collect data. Kwale County was selected due to the high malaria endemicity possibly attributable to the suitable vector habitat characterized by the major anthropogenic activities. The study had five different arms of investigation; the first arm was the control (C), second dam (D) site, third sugarcane (S) site, fourth mining (M) site, and fifth dam-sugarcane-mining (DMS) site. Each of the 1025 consenting participants from 208 households provided a single blood sample for determining malaria prevalence and parasitemia using rapid diagnostic kit and microscopy. Overall, the malaria positivity rate was 22.9% by rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) and 20.1% by microscopy. P. falciparum observation by RDT was highest in the DMS site with 33.7% followed by S site with 26.8%, D site with 23.3%, and M site with 17.6%, and the least was the C site with 11.0%. The overall parasitemia density (parasite counts per 200 white blood cells) was 8.4 with a site-specific density of 18.7, 8.6, 7.1, 3.7, and 3.1 for DMS, S, D, M, and C sites, respectively. Univariable analysis of factors associated with malaria infection showed that participants in the DMS site were four times more likely to be infected with malaria (odds ratio (OR) = 4.1, p < 0.001) compared to those in the C site. Malaria vector and human host interactions are often enhanced by suitable environmental conditions especially ambient temperature which accelerate parasite growth in the mosquito and humidity. Anthropogenic activities may open up new breeding sites for the vector or increase human-Anopheles infective contact hours, hence the different positivity rates and intensities in P. falciparum transmission. The study results showed that prevalence of malaria and parasitemia was highest in areas where all the three anthropogenic activities were taking place. In the single-activity site, sugarcane farming predisposed participants to high malaria burden. Characterized relational interplay between these anthropogenic activities and P. falciparum parasitemia will be useful in developing tailored strategies towards optimized malaria control interventions in areas with and without anthropogenic activities.

求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
Journal of Parasitology Research
Journal of Parasitology Research Medicine-Infectious Diseases
CiteScore
3.50
自引率
9.10%
发文量
49
审稿时长
13 weeks
期刊介绍: Journal of Parasitology Research is a peer-reviewed, Open Access journal that publishes original research articles, review articles, and clinical studies in all areas of basic and applied parasitology. Articles covering host-parasite relationships and parasitic diseases will be considered, as well as studies on disease vectors. Articles highlighting social and economic issues around the impact of parasites are also encouraged. As an international, Open Access publication, Journal of Parasitology Research aims to foster learning and collaboration between countries and communities.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信