Individual risk factors for Plasmodium vivax infection in the residual malaria transmission focus of Oaxaca, Mexico.

OBJECTIVE To identify individual risk factors for malaria infection of inhabitants in the residual transmission focus on the Pacific coast of Oaxaca, Mexico. MATERIALS AND METHODS A population-based, matched case-control study was conducted from January 2002 to July 2003 comparing the frequency of exposure to individual risk factors in subjects presenting clinical malaria and uninfected controls. A malaria case was defined as an individual living in the study area presenting malaria symptoms and a Plasmodium vivax-positive thick blood smear; controls were individuals negative to P. vivax parasites and antibodies of the same gender and with +/- five years as the case. A standardized questionnaire was used to record information about the individual risk factors associated with malaria episodes in cases and two controls for each case. RESULTS In a multiple conditional logistic regression model analysis of data from 119 cases and 238 controls, 18 out of 99 variables were significantly associated (p< 0.05) with increased risk of malaria, including: being born in another locality (RM 3.16, 95% IC 1.16-6.13); speaking only an autochthonous language (RM= 2.48, 95% IC 1.19-3.77); having poor knowledge about malaria (RM= 2.26 95% IC 1.10-4.66 P< 0.02); the amount of vegetation around the house (RM= 20.43, 95% IC 5.98-70.87, P< 0.000; RM= 3.78, 95% IC 1.21-11.80, for 60-100% and 30-59%, respectively); living in houses constructed with perishable materials (RM= 2.85, 95% IC 1.62-5.01); living on the periphery of the town (RM= 6.23, 95% IC 3.50-11.0); sleeping on a dirt floor (RM= 2.98, 95% IC 1.78-5.01) or with two or more people in the same bed (RM= 1.85, 95% CI 1.09-3.14); not using bed nets (RM= 2.39, 95% IC 1.18-4.83, P< 0.003) or using bed nets with holes (RM= 13.93, 95 IC 2.48-78.01); traveling outside of the village (RM= 9.16, 95% IC 1.98-42.2); and previous malaria cases in the house (RM= 5.84, 95% IC 3.33-10.22). CONCLUSIONS Risk of malaria infection was associated with socio-cultural and environmental factors exposing individuals to mosquito bites. A higher risk of malaria infection occurred outside the locality and by intradomiciliar transmission probably as a result of relapsing asymptomatic relatives.