Prevalence of malaria and factors associated with infection in children aged 6 months to 9 years in Guinea: Results from a national cross-sectional study

Abdoul Habib Beavogui; Alexandre Delamou; Bienvenu Salim Camara; Daouda Camara; Karifa Kourouma; Robert Camara; Issaka Sagara; Eugene Kaman Lama; Abdoulaye Djimde

doi:10.1016/j.parepi.2020.e00162

Prevalence of malaria and factors associated with infection in children aged 6 months to 9 years in Guinea: Results from a national cross-sectional study

Parasite Epidemiol Control. 2020 Jul 2:11:e00162. doi: 10.1016/j.parepi.2020.e00162. eCollection 2020 Nov.

Authors

Abdoul Habib Beavogui^{1

2

3}, Alexandre Delamou^{1

3

4}, Bienvenu Salim Camara¹, Daouda Camara¹, Karifa Kourouma¹, Robert Camara⁵, Issaka Sagara⁶, Eugene Kaman Lama⁷, Abdoulaye Djimde⁶

Affiliations

¹ Centre National de formation et de recherche en santé rurale (CNFRSR) de Maferinyah, Forécariah, Guinea.
² Department of Bioclinical and Fundamental Sciences, Gamal Abdel Nasser University, Conakry, Guinea.
³ Centre d'Excellence Africain pour la Prevention des Maladies Transmissibles (CEA-PCMT), Gamal Abdel Nasser University, Conakry, Guinea.
⁴ Department of Public Health, Gamal Abdel Nasser University, Conakry, Guinea.
⁵ National Institute of Public Health, Conakry, Guinea.
⁶ Malaria Research and Training Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali.
⁷ National Malaria Control Program, Conakry, Guinea.

Abstract

Worldwide, a child dies every two minutes due to malaria with Africa bearing about 90% of all malaria deaths particularly among children. This study aimed to describe malaria prevalence and its associated factors among children aged 6 months to 9 years in Guinea. We conducted a cross-sectional household survey between 02 and 29 August 2014 in children aged 6 months to 9 years in the four natural regions of the country. A five-level cluster sampling using the national database from the national institute of statistics was used to select study participants. A total of 1984 children aged 6 months to 9 years were enrolled. The mean age was 50 months (SD, 27). The rapid diagnostic test showed a high malaria prevalence (44%) countrywide along with regional variation ranging from 38% to 61%. A multivariate analysis showed that living in Forest Guinea (AOR: 2.48; 95% CI: 1.78-3.46), in rural areas (AOR: 1.91; 95% IC: 1.45-2.5) and having a splenomegaly (AOR: 2.66; 95% CI: 1.75-4.04) were highly associated with malaria. This study shows that malaria is still prevalent in Guinea among children aged 6 months to 9 years of age.

Keywords: Children; Guinea; Infection; Malaria; Prevalence.