Prevalence of Malaria in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Navi Mumbai, India

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of malarial infections among the patients attending at tertiary care hospital, Navi Mumbai, India, between January and December 2013. 4878 blood samples of suspected malaria cases were examined out of which 809 (16.58%) were positive for malaria. The types of malarial parasites were Plasmodium vivax (54.76%), Plasmodium falciparum (17.80%), and mixed species (27.44%). The prevalence of malarial infection exhibited seasonal pattern with many cases in the month of July to November with peak in October. Infection prevalence in male patients was 2-fold higher than in female patients. Age group ranged from 11-50 years with 21-30 years had greatest risk. These findings compared with other findings of malaria endemic populations in India that a hospital-based diagnosis and surveillance for malaria reflects seasonal malaria transmission underlying demographic and geographic distribution.