LABORATORY ANALYSIS

The project is based at the University of the Eastern Africa, Baraton. At the project headquarters, all blood slides that were not stained in the field due to time were stained and viewed by qualified laboratory technicians. After reading of the slides, 3 additional trained microscopists were requested to confirm the results using clear microscopes (Olympus, Nikon).

SURVEY RESULTS

The results showed that 1826 individuals took part in the survey study but only data from 1819 were reported because some questionnaires were poorly identified and labeled. Out of these 762 (41.9%) were males and 1057 (58.1) were females. Age-specific data revealed that 103(5.6%) of the respondents were below 5 years of age, 185(10.2% were 5-14 years, 144(7.9%) were 15-20 years of age and 1388 (76.3%) were above 20 years of age.

When asked on causes of malaria most of the respondent 1407(77.3%) indicated that malaria is caused by mosquito, 218(12.0%) = plasmodium, 64(3.5%) =contaminated water, 30(1.6%)= Eating some kind of food, 8(0.9%) heat, while the rest 79(4.3%) did not know what causes malaria. From this survey it is evidenced that 11.2% of the respondents did not have clear knowledge of what causes malaria.
On the issue of malaria transmission 1572(86.4%) mentioned that malaria is transmitted through: mosquito bites, 65(3.6%) = being rained on, 25(1.4%) = touching or drinking cold water, 23(1.3%) = contact with infected persons, 22(1.2%) did not give a specific cause of malaria, while 113 (6.2%) did not know what causes malaria. This shows that 13.6% of respondents did not have proper knowledge on malaria transmission.
From the survey 919(50.5%) respondents had experienced headache when they were sent to a laboratory for malaria test. Those who experienced loss of appetite were 526(28.9%), 450(25%) experienced vomiting, 604(33.4%) had high temperature, 382(21.6%) felt cold, 145(7.9%) had uneasy breathing.


Some data collected in the survey on basic knowledge about the cause, transmission and prevention of malaria according to locations are shown in the following table:

Table 1. Number of respondants on the cause of malaria in Nandi Central District, Kenya, according to location.