Mohammad Iqbal Yasinzai, Juma Khan Kakarsulemankhel.
Frequency of malaria infection in Qallat and Qilla Saifullah districts of Balochistan, Pakistan.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;47(3):50-4.

Objective: To investigate the frequency of malaria in residents of districts Qallat and Qilla Saifullah in Balochistan Province, Pakistan. Patients and Methods: The study was carried out from July 2004 to June 2006 in two districts of Balochistan. Malaria cases were detected through passive case detection (patients reporting to health facility with fever and rigors) and active case detection (through house to house search) of fever cases. For active case detection, malaria infested localities in the areas were selected and house visits of suspected patients of malaria were made with the help of head/ Malik’s of these localities. Diagnosis was based on clinical examination of patient and microscopic examination of thick and thin Giemsa stained blood smears from all fever cases. Results: For passive case detection a total of 5552 cases came to health facility (Qallat, 2849; Qilla Saifullah, 2703) while for active case detection a total of 1514 persons selected (Qallat, 821; Qilla Saifullah, 693). Diagnosis was made using Giemsa staining of blood films of both thin and thick smears. The frequency of malaria was 29.7% in Qilla Saifullah and 14.6% in Qallat. The proportion of Plasmodium vivax was higher than Plasmodium falciparum in both districts. However, P.falciparum infection was significantly higher in Qallat (42%) than Qilla Saifullah (15.7%). Overall males were more infected with malaria as compared to females. Seasonal variation showed a particular trend. In Qallat, P.vivax was higher (75%) in the month of January and lowered (48.8%) in the month of August. P.falciparum was higher (51.1%) in the month of August and lower (25%) in the month of January. Similarly, in Qilla Saifullah, P.vivax was higher (100%) in April and lower (72.5%) in July. P.falciparum was higher (27.4%) in the month of July and lowest (0%) in April. Conclusions: Malaria in the two districts was predominantly due to P.vivax followed by P.falciparum The national and provincial malaria control programs need to devise appropriate strategies and cost effective interventions to control the disease.

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