Prevalence of malaria and coinfection in sub Saharan Africa: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND

Malaria and schistosomiasis are two parasite illnesses that share transmission sites in distinct tropical climates. Malaria-schistosomiasis coinfection is widespread in Africa. Also, malaria and coinfection cause exacerbation of health consequences and co-morbidities. However, there is limited pooled data on the prevalence of malaria and coinfection in sub-Saharan Africa.

OBJECTIVE

This systemic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the prevalence of malaria and coinfection in sub-Saharan Africa.

METHOD

Systematic search on PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Science Direct was used to identify relevant studies following reviews and meta-analysis guidelines. A total of eighteen relevant articles on the prevalence of malaria and coinfection were identified for final systematic review and meta-analysis. Extracted data was analyzed using STATA software version 17.0. The absence or presence of publication bias was assessed using Egger's test. Heterogeneity across studies was checked by I statistics; if the I value was ≥50 %, significant heterogeneity was considered and subgroup analysis was done.

RESULTS

A total of 18 studies were included for this systematic review and meta-analysis. From this meta-analysis, the pooled prevalence of malaria and coinfection was 17.39 % (95 % CI: 5.94-28.84). There was significant heterogeneity in prevalence of coinfection, with I values greater than or equal to 99.97 % at  = 0.00. The subgroup analysis based on year of publication showed that the pooled prevalence of malaria and coinfection in studies conducted 2014-2018 was 20.73 % (95 % CI: 0.66-40.80), while it was 14.68 % (95 % CI: 1.02-28.34) in studies conducted 2019-2024. On the other hand, subgroup analysis on diagnostic techniques showed significant differences in the pooled prevalence of malaria and coinfection.

CONCLUSIONS

This systematic review and meta-analysis showed that malaria and coinfection are prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa.This highlights the region's major challenges in controlling malaria and coinfections.To ensure the efficiency of coinfections control and treatment, regular monitoring, identification, and reduction of the prevalence of malaria and coinfection must be maintained. Furthermore, cooperative efforts at local, countrywide, and global levels are necessary to address the multifaceted factors causal to malaria- coinfection.