Prevalence of malaria among outpatients Visiting jimma shenen gibe hospital, jimma Southwest ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Malaria is one of the major parasitic diseases with high morbidity and mortality. The disease is curable if the patient is early diagnosed and promptly treated. Objective:-The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of malaria among out patients visiting Jimma Shenen Gibe Hospital Laboratory during the study period. Methods:-A cross- sectional study was carried out on the prevalence of malaria among patients at Shenen Gibe Hospital, Jimma, Ethiopia from April17 to May 02,2015 G.C. The sampling population was interviewed using questioner prepared for this purpose. Finger pricked blood sample was collected from each subject, thick and thin smears were prepared and stained with Giemsa and were examined microscopically for the presence of malaria parasites. Results:- Out of 324 participants whose blood film was examined, 196 and 128 were male and females respectively. The prevalence of malaria was 37 (11.4%) and from this 21(6.5%) and 16(4.9%) were male and female, respectively. Conclusion and Recommendation:-The overall prevalence of malaria infection obtained in this study was 11.4%. P.vivax was the most dominant (8.6%). The study showed that the residents of Jimma town had slightly more malaria infection than residents o