Hussain K, Shafee M, Khan N, Jan S, Tareen Am, Khan Ma
Microbiology Section, Children Hospital, Quetta, Pakistan.
Iran J Parasitol. 2013 Apr;8(2):342-7.
Malaria is one of the most devastating protozoal diseases in under developing countries like Pakistan where health facilities are scarce. It is the second most frequently reported disease with 4.5 million suspected cases in Pakistan. The current study was designed to determine the incidence of pediatric malaria in Quetta, Balochistan.
The study was conducted at Children Hospital Quetta (CHQ) during July 2011march 2012. Blood samples were collected from 3418 clinically suspected and were evaluated using thin and thick blood films stained with Giemsa stain.
Out of 3418 total of 230 (6.72%) children were found positive for any of the malarial parasitic infestation. Plasmodium vivax was observed to be more common 54.34% (n= 125/230) than P. falciparum 44.78% (n = 103/230). Male children were 65.21% (150/230) i.e. two times more commonly affected than female 34.78% (80/230) children. The prevalence among age groups was 7.41% (n = 89/1200) in preschool-aged children aged 1-5 years, 7.11% (n = 75/1054) in school-aged children aged 6-10 years while 6.78% (n = 46/678) in 11-15 years-old children, and 6.66% (n = 20/300) in >15 year-olds children. Peak prevalence was noted in summer and mild in winter. Mixed infection of (0.86%: 2/230) P. vivax and P. falciparum was also observed in two cases although no case of P. malariae or P. ovale infection was seen during entire study.
The results reflect the higher prevalence of malaria in Quetta, Pakistan that poses a significant health threat and requires urgent attention of high-ups to launch programme to control the disease in the area.
疟疾是巴基斯坦等发展中国家最具毁灭性的原生动物疾病之一，这些国家卫生设施匮乏。疟疾是巴基斯坦第二大常见疾病，疑似病例达450万例。本研究旨在确定俾路支省奎达市儿童疟疾的发病率。
该研究于2011年7月至2012年3月在奎达儿童医院（CHQ）进行。采集了3418例临床疑似病例的血样，并用吉姆萨染色的厚薄血涂片进行评估。
在3418例病例中，共有230例（6.72%）儿童被发现感染任何疟原虫。间日疟原虫比恶性疟原虫更常见，前者占54.34%（n = 125/230），后者占44.78%（n = 103/230）。男童占65.21%（150/230），即受影响的频率是女童（34.78%，80/230）的两倍。1 - 5岁学龄前儿童的患病率为7.41%（n = 89/1200），6 - 10岁学龄儿童为7.11%（n = 75/1054），11 - 15岁儿童为6.78%（n = 46/678），15岁以上儿童为6.66%（n = 20/300）。患病率高峰出现在夏季，冬季较低。在两例病例中还观察到间日疟原虫和恶性疟原虫的混合感染（0.86%：2/230），不过在整个研究期间未发现三日疟原虫或卵形疟原虫感染病例。
结果反映出巴基斯坦奎达市疟疾患病率较高，这对健康构成了重大威胁，需要高层紧急关注，启动该地区疾病控制项目。
