Assesment of Knowledge on Factors Contributing to Highland Malaria Outbreaks in Gucha District and Available Preventive and Control Measures
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Date
2013-03-20
Authors
Ondari, Peter Nyabuto
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Abstract
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by protists'
of the genus Plasmodium. Malaria is responsible for high morbidity and mortality rates among
children under five years and pregnant women. Recent climatic changes leading to global
warming has resulted in the emergence of malaria in highlands in Africa where malaria never
existedbefore. In Kenya, highland malaria is very rampant in Nyanza, Gucha District and some
parts of Rift Valley province where it occurs as epidemics. Annually Malaria in Kenya claims
thelives of 26,000 children aged less than five years old with an average death of 72 children per
day.In order to curb these epidemics, prevention and control measures should be intensified. The
strengthening of malaria surveillance and monitoring needs to be given priority in parallel with
effortsto control the malaria vector. This will involve a combination of environmental, physical
and chemical control measures, through joint efforts of both governmental and nongovernmental
agencies. A/cross sectional descriptive study was carried out aimed at collecting
bothqualitative and quantitative data on knowledge on factors contributing to highland malaria
outbreak and available control and preventive factors in Gucha District, Kenya. Data were
collectedusing structured open-ended questionnaires, focus group discussions and desk reviews
of health records and data at Gucha District hospital and some rural health facilities in Gucha
District.The sample size was four hundred respondents. The study population consisted of adult
patientsand patient attendants aged 18 years and above who sought health care in Gucha district
hospital and some rural facilities in Gucha District. Fifteen study sites were selected for
representative coverage of the district. Data analysis was carried out by use of GraphPad InStat
softwareand utilized one-way analysis of variance and Tukey-Kramer test. The study revealed
that over 90% of Gucha District residents had completed secondary level education and over
78%of the respondents did not live in modern houses. Fever and feeling chilly were the most
common symptoms of malaria infection reported by 51% and 20% of the respondents
respectively.Plasmodium was cited by 55% while a combination of bites by mosquitoes and
existenceof stagnant waters were cited by 20% of the respondents as the main causes of malaria.
Twentynine percent of the respondents bought drugs from local sources while only 15.75%
visitedhospital for treatment against malaria. Forty four percent and 31% of the respondents
reporteda combination of bush clearing and drainage of stagnant waters and use of mosquito
netsrespectively as the most important mosquito control methods. Twenty eight percent of the
respondentsate goats offal while the rest burnt various herbal plants as traditional methods for
controlof malaria. Hospital records data .did not show any significant difference in malaria
morbiditycases for the period from 1998-2006 (P = 0.0546) while higher number of children of
5 years or below were significantly infected with malaria compared to other age groups (P =
0.0001).There was no difference in mean monthly temperatures (0.8659), rainfall (0.6124) or
humidity(0.5322) recorded between 2002 and 2006. The study concludes that although Gucha
District residents are educated and do not use improved methods for control of malaria.
Furthermore, majority of the people only go to hospital for malaria treatment following failure of
selfmedication. The findings of this study are of high value to the ministry of health and other
stakeholdersin the fight against highland malaria in Kenya. Local people should be educated on
properenvironmental management to create unfavorable conditions for mosquito breeding. They
shouldbe educated on: bush clearing, draining of stagnant waters, planting food crops away from
houses,proper construction of houses to eliminate cracks on walls and open eaves and filling up
depressionscreated during brick making among other methods.