An Assessment of the Multidimensional Pattern of Malaria Infection among Children under 0-5 Years in Anyigba, North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

Malaria is estimated to kill more than 1 million people annually, the majority ofwhom are young children. The study assessed the incidents of malaria infectionamong children aged 0-5 years in Anyigba. This study was hinged on fourspecific objectives which include: determining the incidence and prevalencelevel of malaria among children aged 0-5 years in Anyigba, identifying thecontributory factors of malaria infection among children of 0-5 in the areastudied, identifying strategies employed to combat the incidence of malariaamong children of 0-5 years, and ascertaining the economic toll of bothpreventive and curative measures of malaria. The paper adopted the health beliefmodel to explain the social phenomenon reviewed. The study adopted the surveyresearch design with simple random sampling techniques to reach and elicitresponses from 278 selected study participants. Structured questionnaire wasused as the primary instrument of data collection. Data were analyzed using theStatistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Findings, amongothers, shows that the incidence and prevalence of malaria among childrenwithin age 0-5 years, were very high in the study area. Contributory factorsresponsible for malaria infection were parasites of genus plasmodium, low useof insecticide treated net, unsanitary environmental condition, poverty, poorbehavioural attitude, and ignorance. The study among others recommends thatthe Nigerian government should release funds for malaria research and controlactivities; the increasing severity of the threat of malaria to the Nigerianresidents, especially in Anyigba among children aged 0-5 years, and thediminishing ability to counter it, should be addressed by a more comprehensiveand better integrated approach to malaria research and control; and for malariacontrol, short/long term interventions should be undertaken to ameliorate thisholoendemic crisis of malaria infections.