title: The epidemiology of malaria in Bolifamba, a rural community on the eastern slopes of Mount Cameroon: seasonal variation in the parasitological indices of transmission.
abstract: The prevalences of malarial parasitaemia, fever, splenomegaly and anaemia and the levels of parasitaemia were investigated, through part of one wet season (in 2001) and the following dry season (in 2002), in 2157 subjects in the village of Bolifamba, in south-western Cameroon. Overall, 55.9% of the villagers checked in the wet season but only 49.5% of those examined in the dry season were found smear-positive for malaria (P<0.0001). Rainfall was found to be significantly associated with the mean level of parasitaemia (P=0.001). The prevalences of fever (40.3% v. 19.6%), splenomegaly (37.4% v. 4.0%) and marked splenomegaly (i.e. a Hackett's score of 2 or higher; 25.8% v. 2.4%) were all significantly higher in the wet season than in the dry (P<0.0001 for each). No seasonal difference was observed, however, in the prevalence of anaemia. Parasitaemia, fever, splenomegaly and anaemia were all significantly more common in the young children investigated (i.e. those aged < 5 years) than in the older subjects. When the data were subjected to a multiple logistic regression, age-group, anaemia, fever, and month of examination were all found to be significantly associated with the presence of malarial parasitaemia. The results of this large-scale study, the first of its kind in the Buea district of Cameroon, indicate the intense transmission of malarial parasites in rural Bolifamba, with young children at greatest risk. The data collected provide a useful 'base line' for an ongoing study to assess the immune status of the residents of Bolifamba.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Buea, P. O. Box 63, Buea, South West Province, Cameroon.
authors.forename: T Nkuo
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Akenji
authors.forename: N N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Ntonifor
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kimbi
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Abongwa
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Ching
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Ndukum
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Anong
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nkwescheu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Songmbe
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Boyo
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Ndamukong
authors.forename: V P K
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Titanji
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D000818:Animals; D002163:Cameroon / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016015:Logistic Models; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000453:epidemiology; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum; D010965:Plasmodium malariae; D015995:Prevalence; D011891:Rain; D012306:Risk; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D013163:Splenomegaly / Q000453:epidemiology