A preliminary study on urban malaria during the minor transmission season: The case of Adama City, Oromia, Ethiopia

The distribution of malaria shows considerable spatial heterogeneity globally, regionally and locally. For the design of effective malaria control and elimination, and for its implementation in Ethiopia, urban malaria should be given due attention. Therefore, the present study was aimed to examine the status of urban malaria during the minor transmission season in Adama city. A total of 2590 febrile patients were screened using the gold standard microscopy-based blood test for malaria diagnosis from seven purposively selected health facilities found in Adama City from April to July 2018. Socio-demographic data were collected from malaria positive patients to correlate predisposing factors; like previous malaria history, settlement, travel history, age, and other associated risk factors with malaria incidence. Climatological data, such as temperature and relative humidity, recorded during the study period were also collected from the data base of Adama meteorology center for analysis. The microscopic data indicated that from a total of 2590 febrile patients screened for malaria during the study period 3.7% (97/2590) of them were confirmed malaria positive. Adolescents and adults (≥15 years of age) were found to be most affected by Plasmodium vivax (66%) and Plasmodium falciparum (20.5%), and mixed (6%). Analysis of the climatological data revealed a rise in environmental temperature and relative humidity during the study that coincides with the increase of malaria cases, since it creates favorable mosquito breeding for malaria transmission in the city. P. vivax was found as a predominant species in causing malaria burden indicating its public health problem in Adama city affecting the productive age group of the community, adolescents and adults, during the minor transmission season of malaria. In addition to its public health importance by causing morbidity and mortality such kind of scenario may also exacerbates poverty.