Assessing the Prevalence of Malaria, in the Case of Sigmo Health Center, Sigmo Woreda, Jimma Zone, South West Ethiopia

Abstract

Despite considerable efforts made throughout the century to eradicate or control malaria it is still the most prevalent and most devastating disease in the global tropics. The disease has a negative effect on the economic growth and perpetuates vicious cycles of poverty especially in the developing parts of the world. It costs Africa US$10 – 12 billion every year in lost domestic product even though it could be controlled for a fraction of that sum. In Africa, the malaria causes about 20% of cerebral conditions leading to coma and death. One important strategy to prevent malaria infection is the use of insecticide treated mosquito net. Many researches were done in Ethiopia on the prevalence of malaria. Even though many researches were done on the prevalence of malaria in other place of the country, no any recent study conducted in Sigmo Health centre. Since knowing the prevalence of malaria is very important and the prevalence of malaria in Sigmo Health centre is yet not well known the investigator was interested to do research on this area to fill the knowledge gap. The main objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of malaria from 2000 to 2009, in the case of Sigmo health center, Jimma zone, South-west Ethiopia. The study was conducted in Sigmo health centre, Sigmo woreda, located in Jimma zone from Dec 2016 to August 2017. The source of population was all patients admitted at Sigmo health center from 2000-2009. Secondary data collected from from the health centre was used as a source of data. After collected data cleared and checked for their completeness, the data were analyzed by using a scientific calculator. Accordingly compared to other areas, in the current study site, the prevalence of malaria was low (3%) throughout the years (2000-2009). The most prevalent parasite in the study site was plasmodium vivax (76%) and female were the most affected by malaria. Thus, the declining pattern of malaria infection in the study area could be evidence for intense intervention strategies undertaking in the study area.