Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Zoonoses, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2023 Oct 20;102(42):e35516. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000035516.
Malaria infection still represents a notable public health risk in Saudi Arabia. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of Plasmodium species among clinically suspected cases who presented at Badr General Hospital and healthcare facilities in selected regions of Badr Governorate, Madinah Province, Saudi Arabia between January 2021 and January 2022. A total of 493 suspected patients were recruited from Badr Governorate, investigated for malaria infection using CBFME and rapid diagnostic test- CareStart Malaria Pf/PAN (HRP2/pLDH) Ag Combo rapid diagnostic tests. The results showed that malaria infection was 34 (6.89%) cases among 493 suspected patients using microscopic examination as reference test. Moreover, subjects aged 31 to 40 years and those aged 51 to 60 years had the highest (50%) and lowest (8.82%) percentages of malaria cases. Plasmodium vivax (19/34, 55.88%) was higher than P falciparum (15/34, 44.1%) as the causative agents of malaria cases. The majority of malaria cases (29/34, 80.9%) among non-Saudi mainly from Sudan (15/34, 44.1%), Pakistan (5/34, 14.7%), Bangladesh (5/34, 14.7%) and India (4/34, 11.76%) whereas malaria cases among Saudis (5/34, 14.7%). In addition, the majority of malaria cases (32/34, 94.11%) among male subjects while (2/34, 5.88%) among females. The current study revealed that malaria transmission is still active in Badr Governorate, Madinah Province, Saudi Arabia and represents a public health concern. Further screening implements and continuous epidemiological monitor of the status of malaria infection in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are thus warranted to improve its controlling activities and eradicate malaria endemicity in the country.
疟疾感染在沙特阿拉伯仍然是一个显著的公共卫生风险。本横断面研究旨在确定 2021 年 1 月至 2022 年 1 月期间在沙特阿拉伯麦地那省巴德尔省巴德尔综合医院和选定地区的医疗保健机构就诊的临床疑似病例中，疟原虫种的流行情况。共招募了来自巴德尔省的 493 名疑似患者，使用 CBFME 和快速诊断测试- CareStart Malaria Pf/PAN（HRP2/pLDH）Ag Combo 快速诊断测试对疟疾感染进行了调查。结果显示，在 493 名疑似患者中，使用显微镜检查作为参考测试，疟疾感染为 34 例（6.89%）。此外，年龄在 31 至 40 岁和 51 至 60 岁的人群中，疟疾病例的比例最高（50%）和最低（8.82%）。疟原虫 vivax（19/34，55.88%）高于疟原虫 falciparum（15/34，44.1%），是疟疾病例的病原体。非沙特人中的大多数疟疾病例（29/34，80.9%）主要来自苏丹（15/34，44.1%）、巴基斯坦（5/34，14.7%）、孟加拉国（5/34，14.7%）和印度（4/34，11.76%），而沙特人的疟疾病例（5/34，14.7%）。此外，大多数疟疾病例（32/34，94.11%）发生在男性，而（2/34，5.88%）发生在女性。本研究表明，疟疾在沙特阿拉伯麦地那省巴德尔省仍有传播，这是一个公共卫生问题。因此，有必要进一步实施筛查措施，并持续监测沙特阿拉伯王国疟疾感染的流行情况，以改善其控制活动并消除该国的疟疾流行。
