Prevalence of Malaria Parasitaemia among Children Resident in Orphanages in Anambra State, Nigeria

Malaria parasitemia in Anambra State and in Nigeria at large is of public health  significance. Determination of malaria parasite density is helpful in disease  monitoring and assessment of drug efficacy. This study investigated the prevalence of malaria parasitemia among children resident in orphanages located in Anambra  State, Nigeria and related the malaria parasite density gotten from actual WBC  count with value got using World Health Organization (WHO) assumed mean. A total of 272 subjects comprising 172 orphans and 100 children in family setting  (controls) were investigated for malaria parasitemia using Giemsa stain. Malaria  parasite density was carried out according to WHO recommendation. A prevalence  of 23.3% and 12.0% malaria parasitemia were observed for children in orphanage  and family setting respectively (p<0.05). The disease significantly affected the  children in all the age ranges with children in ages 0-5 most affected (p<0.05). The  mean malaria parasite density measured based on WHO assumed WBC mean value  was significantly higher than using the actual WBC count (p˂0.05). The use of total  WBC count reference value for a given locality in measuring malaria parasite density is recommended rather than an assumed value. Keywords: Prevalence, Malaria Parasitaemia, Orphanage, Parasite Density