Evaluation of Incidence of Asymptomatic Plasmodium Falciparum in a Peri-Urban Community in Ogun, Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria has been a public health concern in most tropical and sub-tropical countries around the world with causative agents by five Plasmodium species. Malaria is a prominent disease of high-temperature regions with high morbidity, leading to socio-economic loss. Pregnancy asymptomatic Plasmodium species infection causes placental infection and anaemia; separation of infected red blood cells in the mother intervillous spaces of the placenta resulted in its infection and is associated with placental inflammation and fibrosis. Screening for individuals with asymptomatic infections to determine their prevalence and possibly control it is pertinent using sensitive cum precise diagnostic tools. This study aim's at evaluating the incidence of asymptomatic plasmodium falciparum in the study area. Two hundred and ten blood samples were collected randomly from Ogun State Polytechnic of Health and Allied Science, Ilese Campus; this constituted students and staffers with asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum between February and March 2023. The students and staffers exhibiting any symptoms of Malaria infection, such as fever, nausea, chills, etc., and on anti-malaria drugs were excluded from the tested population. The male volunteer was 15.2% (32/ 210) while the female was 84.8%, reflecting the nature of the population's gender skewness being a female-dominated place. The age distribution, 17-26 years age group was high with 59%; 27-36 was 13.8%, 37-46 with 17.6%, 47-56; 7.6%, 57-65+ being lowest with 1.9%. The prevalence of plasmodium falciparum in the blood of subjects in this study was 87%; the male infected was 18%, and the female was 68.6%.