Malaria and Anemia among Children in a Low Resource Setting In Nigeria

Background: This study aimed at determining the prevalence of malaria and anemia among child-ren in rural community of Okada, Edo State Nigeria, as well as to assess the level of use of Insecti-cide treated bed nets and its impact on prevalence of malaria and anemia among study population. Methods: Thick blood films from 226 children with signs and symptoms of malaria in Okada commu-nity were stained and examined for presence of malaria parasites. Hemoglobin concentra-tion of all children was also determined using standard method. Result: A total of 185 (81.9%) children were infected with malaria parasite. Malaria parasitaemia was significantly affected by age (P =0.003). A significantly higher number of positive cases of malaria and anemia was observed in rainy season as compared to dry season (P<0.05). The prevalence of anemia in children was 47.3%. Malaria was a risk factor for development of anemia in children (OR=2.551; 95% CI=1.227, 5.305; P=0.015). Use of insecticide treated bed nets was recorded in 11(4.9%) of children studied, and did not significantly reduce the prevalence of malaria and anemia. However among malaria parasite infected children, its use significantly reduced the prevalence of anemia (OR=0.126; 95%CI = 0.015, 1.047; P= 0.031). Conclusion: Malaria and anemia among children was high malaria intervention progammes by rele-vant agencies is strongly advocated.