Basic HTML Version
Journal of Mosquito Research, 2013, Vol.3, No.6, 45
-
53
ISSN 1927-646X
http://jmr.sophiapublisher.com
49
Committees of the Jos University Teaching Hospital
(JUTH) and the Federal Capital Territory
Administration before going to the Local Government
Area. Written permission was also obtained from the
Chairman of the Local Government Area and the
leaders of selected communities.
Informed written consent was obtained from all the
mothers before enrollment into the study. The aim of
the study was explained to all the participants who
were assured of confidentiality of any information
provided. Their full cooperation was solicited and they
were told they could withdraw at any point of the
study without suffering any penalties or being denied
any benefits.
2 Results
The age distribution of children under five years in
Kuje is shown as table 1.
Table 1 Age distribution of children under five years in Kuje
Age (months)
Intervention
Control
Freq
%
Freq
%
<6
2
1.5
4
3.4
6-11
52
40
22
18.6
12-17
21
16.2
11
9.3
18-23
9
6.9
11
9.3
24-29
20
15.4
16
13.6
30-35
2
1.5
11
9.3
36-41
16
12.3
17
14.4
≥42
8
6.2
26
22
Total
130
100.0
118
100.0
The mean age of the under five children in the
intervention group was 18.4±12 months and 26.7±15
months in the control group.
2.1 Utilization of insecticide treated nets by under
five children at Kuje
Fifty eight percent of Households in the study group
had at least one insecticide treated mosquito net at
baseline. This however increased significantly to
100% after distribution of nets during the study. In the
control group, 52.5% of households had at least one
insecticide treated net at baseline. After five months
69.9% of households in the control group had at least
one insecticide treated net (Table 2).
In the study group 57% of mothers with ITN admitted
that the child slept under the net the night before the
intervention. This rose to 83% after the intervention
(X
2
= 19.18, df=1, p=0.0000 statistically significant).
In the control, the proportion of under five children
sleeping under an ITN also rose from 45.8% to 58.3%
but this was not statistically significant (p=0.08943)
(Table 3).
2.2 Prevalence of malaria in under five children at
Kuje
The history of fever in the last one month was
assumed to be indicative of malaria. The prevalence
was 7% in the study group. After intervention, it
reduced to 1.1% (not statistically significant,
p=0.06486). In the control group, the prevalence rose
from 6% to 17.5% (statistically significant, p=0.0098)
(Table 4).
The results of the thin blood film showed a prevalence
of 39.2% at baseline reducing to 2.7% in the
intervention group after 5 months, a 93% reduction in
prevalence of malaria (statistically significant P=
00000). In the control, the prevalence of malaria
increased from 22.0% at baseline to 32.0% after five
months (not statistically significant, P = 0.1112)
(Table 5).
3 Discussion
The thin blood film showed a baseline prevalence of
39.2% in the intervention group and 22% in the
control group. This prevalence reduced in the
intervention group to 2.7% after using ITN for five
months but was observed to increase in the control
group to 32%. A study in Tanzania by Nsimba and
colleagues in 2002 found a prevalence of malaria of
55% in children under five years (Nsimba et al., 2002)
and another study in Gabon in 2005 found a
prevalence of 47.5% in children between 6 months
and five years of age (Arnaud et al., 2005).
Adah and