PREVALENCE OF MALARIA AND VECTOR ABUNDANCE IN AMICHI COMMUNITY, NNEWI SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Aim: Members of the Amichi community are easily prone to the bites of mosquitoes. This study was conducted in the Amichi village in Nigeria's Nnewi South L.G.A. to determine the prevalence of malaria and the abundance of mosquito vectors. Malaria parasites in the blood were found using blood preparation and microscopy.

Methodology: 232 people from the town's ten settlements, including 135 men (61.15%) and 97 women (60.82%), took part in the survey. Participants were separated into 8 groups with ten-year intervals and ranged in age from 0 to 80. 142 (61.21%) of the 232 persons that were checked tested positive for malaria parasites. Plasmodium falciparum 135 (95.07%), Plasmodium malariae 6 (4.23%), and Plasmodium ovale 1 (0.70%) were the malaria parasites found in the study. Malaria prevalence was highest in the age group 51–60 years (16, 72.72%) and lowest in the age group 21–30 years (12, 50.00%). Age-related differences in the prevalence of malaria were not significant (p>0.05; 11.07, df=14). Males had a little higher infection rate than females (59(60.82%)), although this difference was not statistically significant (0.548 d.f = 2, p>0.05).

Results: Farmers were marginally more likely to contract malaria than other occupational categories, but there were significant differences among them (P>0.05). Anopheles gambiae larvae made up 51 (14.63%) of the 351 mosquito larvae collected, with Aedes albopictus larvae making up 117 (33.33%), and the result was statistically significant (694.6 d.f.=12; P0.05). Anopheles gambiae produced the highest yield of mosquitoes, 12 (46.15%), while Aedes albopictus produced the lowest, and the Pyrethrum Knockdown collection (PKC) of indoor biting and resting adult mosquitoes produced 26 mosquitoes in 4 villages.

Conclusion: The results of the study showed that Anopheles gambiae breed in all villages thus every person in the town is at risk of malaria attack. Attributes of the rate of exposure of the study population to vector bites due to the nature of their work and standard of living from a factor in the transmission pattern of the disease. Mass education of the people n malaria infection, prevention, and control through environmental management will go a long way in helping to alleviate malaria infection in this and other communities