Assessment of malaria parasite burden among under-five children across pre-urban and rural Mbaise communities

Malaria remains a leading morbidity and mortality cause in children under the age of five years. This study established the malaria infection prevalence in this age group in selected health centres and hospitals in Mbaise, Nigeria. The study enrolled 350 children aged 1–5 years. Venipuncture was used to collect blood samples, which were then screened using Giemsa-stained thick films. Data were analyzed using SPSS v21. The Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to compare proportions; P < 0.05 was considered significant. Malaria prevalence varied significantly among age groups (?² = 0.004, P < 0.05). Male children were more prevalent (91.1%) than females (70.0%) (?² = 0.000, P < 0.05). With regard to the birth order, infection rates were: first-born (93.9%), second (71.4%), third (80.0%), and fourth (75.0%) (?² = 0.021, P<0.05). Malaria infection remains highly prevalent among children under the age of five in Mbaise. Targeted interventions are necessary to stem this burden.