Prevalence and factors associated with differential malaria species infections in children under 5 years in selected Zambian Populations

Abstract

Malaria remains one of the treatable and preventable infectious diseases, and yet still claims more than 660,000 lives every year worldwide. Malaria diagnosis in some health facilities is based on falciparum rapid diagnostic test and hence missed the other species. Furthermore, there is no data on the prevalence of non-falciparum species in Zambia. This study sought to determine the presence of differential malarial plasmodium species and examine associated factors for infection in children in selected communities in Zambia.