Prevalence of dengue virus infection and malaria parasitemia among febrile patients attending the University of Jos health clinic, Plateau State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Background: Malaria and dengue are mosquitoe –borne diseases important in the tropical and subtropical regions with overlapping epidemiology and symptoms that cannot be differentiated on clinical ground alone. Aim: to detect malaria and dengue among febrile patients attending the University of Jos Health Clinic. Methods: Blood samples were collected from a total of 86 febrile patients; ELISA IgM was employed for the detection of recent or active dengue infection, while malaria parasitamiae was tested by MALARIA ANTIGEN P.F TEST KIT. Results:The study demonstrated a significant higher prevalence of Malaria (72.1%) than dengue (17.4%) at P-value of 0.001. Only 4 (4.7%) out of the 86 participants tested positive for both malaria and dengue. None of the sociodemographic parameters was a determinant of malaria, but socioeconomic status had showed that student and the self-employed have significant higher dengue infection than the employed (P-value 0.036). Presence of stagnant water in the environment and none fumigation of the environment were identified as risk factors of malaria at P-values of 0.040 and 0.006 respectively, on the other hand often travel to rural areas was established as dengue risk factor at P-value of 0.019. Conclusion: overall, the study did not only establish the presence of dengue and malaria among the study subjects, but also demonstrated the evidence of malaria and dengue co-infection which is often considered malaria mono-infection, these findings suggest that routine dengue virus diagnosis among febrile patient in the tropical and subtropical climate should be a priority.