OCCURRENCE AND TREATMENT OF MALARIA PARASITE ON CHILDREN ATTENDING BEULAH SPECIALIST HOSPITAL IN RIVERS STATE

This study investigated the occurrence and treatment of malaria parasites in children attending Beulah Specialist Hospital in Rivers State. A drop of blood was collected from the EDTA bottle with the help of a sterile pipette and dropped at the centre of a pre-cleaned and well- labelled slide. An application stick was used to spread the drop of blood in a circular pattern for 5 seconds until it was the size of a coin. The slide was laid flat on a rack and allowed to air-dry at room temperature. After air-drying, the film was stained with 3% giemsa’s solution for 30 minutes and later, gently rinsed in water and air dried. Each of the prepared blood films was carefully examined under the common light microscope using x100 objective lens. The number of infected red blood cells and samples were recorded and the level of parasitemia calculated. The results revealed a high prevalence of malaria, out of the 100 children selected for this study with 81% of the children tested being infected and 19% tested negative. The age-related analysis showed that children aged 4-6 years had the highest malaria occurrence (95.2%), while the 10years and above age group had the lowest infection rate (74.5%). However, there was no significant association between age and malaria occurrence. In terms of gender, females had a higher infection rate (95.8%) compared to males (67.3%), but the difference was not statistically significant. Also, the malaria species observed were Plasmodium falciparium and Plasmodium ovale. Finally,the recommended treatment regime for infected patients were the administration of drugs such as Artesunate, Coartem and Shalatem. The study recommends enhance malaria prevention initiatives, such as distributing insecticide-treated nets, conducting indoor residual spraying, and providing education on environmental cleanliness to reduce mosquito breeding. Also, special attention should be given to this age group in malaria control efforts. Health campaigns, routine screening, and early treatment programs should be prioritized for younger children.