Prevalence of Submicroscopic Plasmodium Falciparum Infection Across Age Groups and Gender at a General Hospital in a Fast-developing Town in South-South Nigeria

Abstract

Submicroscopic Plasmodium falciparum infections pose significant challenges in malaria elimination efforts, particularly in endemic regions. This research aimed to investigate the prevalence of submicroscopic Plasmodium falciparum infection among patients at General Hospital Ikot Ekpene, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The study included male and female participants aged 1 to 60 years, excluding pregnant women and individuals who had taken Artemisinin-based Combination Therapies (ACTs) or herbal treatment within the preceding two weeks. Malaria diagnosis was carried out using Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Test (mRDT), Microscopy and Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR). Submicroscopic malaria cases were determined by Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR), owing to its higher sensitivity. Out of 382 samples analyzed, a total of 132 true positive cases of Plasmodium falciparum infections were detected, among whom were 28 (7.3%,) cases of submicroscopic infections. The prevalence of Submicroscopic Plasmodium falciparum infection in the study population as detected by qPCR was 7.3%, and common across all ages represented in the following order:1-10years had a prevalence of 5.9%, 11-20years had 8.2%, 21-30years had 7.4%, 31-40years had 7.9%, 41-50years had 14.0%), while 51-60years had 2.8%, respectively. Regarding the prevalence of submicroscopic Plasmodium falciparum infection and gender detected by qPCR, females recorded 7.5% while males had 7.2%. The study revealed significant burden of submicroscopic Plasmodium falciparum infections across age groups in the study area with no bias to gender, which is crucial for guiding malaria control strategies and interventions.