Prevalence and Risks Factors of Malaria Parasitaemia among Under Five Children in Urban and Rural Settlements in Jigawa State: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Malaria is one of the common parasitic diseases which is passed on through female Anopheles mosquitoes. Every year, 125 million women globally and about half of all the population of the World are at risk of malaria. Plasmodium parasite, belonging to the family of Apicomplexans, is the main cause of malaria which is a major health-related problem. In Africa, malaria is the second greatest killer of people caused by infectious diseases besides HIV/Aids. In Africa, almost 1 in every 5 under-5 child deaths is caused by Malaria (WHO, 2021). Malaria is a big public health problem in Nigeria as it is responsible of cases and deaths more than any other country in the world, and it is also the risk facing 97% of the population in Nigeria; the other 3 % of the population lives in malaria free highlands. It is the purpose of the study to find out the prevalence and risk factors of malaria parasitaemia among under five children in both urban and rural settlements in the State of Jigawa. The study of this analysis employed a cross-sectional research design that was comparative. The choice of the participants occurred with the help of the systematic random sampling that includes the selection of every 3 rd under 5 child with the permission of the parents/guardian to take part in the study. Their results indicated a substantial malaria prevalence of 36.1 percent with the highest rates of 65.1 percent found in the rural localities than in the urban ones which stands at 34.9 percent. The importance of the environmental factors and maternal education in contributing to the prevalence of malaria is brought out in the study. It would require longitudinal study that will monitor the health status of under-five children regarding the occurrence of malaria.