Trends of malaria prevalence in under-five’s and pregnant women at Kasama general hospital, Kasama district, Northern Zambia

Abstract

Introduction: Globally, malaria accounts for 429,000 deaths, it accounts for up to 40% of all infant mortality and 20% of all maternal mortality in Zambia. In accordance to WHO, the Zambian government came up with the National malaria Strategic Plan in an urge to completely eradicate the malaria cases in Zambia by 2030. This study aimed at determining the trends of malaria prevalence from 2011 to 2015 in under-fives and the pregnant women
including the practices in its prevention. Methods: A cross sectional study design was employed. A standardized questionnaire was used on 347participants sampled randomly using 1/k to determine the practices of pregnant women in the prevention of malaria. Analysis of data was done using SPSS V 20. Results: The findings indicated an increase in the prevalence rate in under-fives though it was not significant at 95% confidence interval (P-value 0.0980) whereas there was a significant reduction in the prevalence of malaria in the pregnant women (P-value 0.03) The results indicated a poor practice with 36.8% not utilizing the preventive knowledge well. Conclusion: There was an elevation of malaria prevalence rate in under-fives as opposed to that of pregnant women Thus, there is need to sensitise the people about malaria and its preventive measures in order to eradicate it.