An Exploratory Case study of the effect of Ecology on Malaria Risk Factors in Northern Pakistan

Malaria Risk Factors in Northern Pakistan

Abstract

Malaria vector mosquito population and its ability to transmit the disease is greatly influenced by the ecology of an area, which provide suitable breeding habitats for increasing its population. Areas having similar climatic conditions may differ in ecological conditions which can affect the malaria transmission factors, thus leading to different vector control strategy to control malaria transmission in an area. Present study is conducted by using a cross-sectional approach to investigate various malaria risk factors in two ecologically dissimilar districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Closed-ended question is employed to collect data from 2854 and 1944 randomly selected individuals of District Charsadda and Swabi respectively from December to August. Association between various possible malaria risk factors and history of malaria infection is measured by a univariate logistic regression analysis. Plasmodium vivax is found to be the dominant species causing infection in the local population. Factors like gender, marital status, sleeping habits, irrigated fields, windows mesh, house material made of and animals in home showed a significant relationship (P<0.05) to malaria transmission in district Swabi, while parameters like previous infection, sleeping habits, family history, outdoor night roaming, use of bed nets, use of repellents, use of residual sprays, irrigated fields, animals in home, house material made of and windows mesh are found significant (P<0.05)  to malaria transmission in district Charsadda. Current study provides some basic guidelines by identifying the potential risk factors in the two districts having diverse ecology to plan an effective and comprehensive strategy for reducing malaria disease burden in these districts.