Epidemiology study of malaria in Larestan during 2001-2011

Introduction: Malaria is one of the most prevalent parasitic diseases in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. In all provinces of Iran except Sistan and Baluchestan, Hormozgan and the tropical parts of Kerman, malaria is under control. However, due to favorable conditions, the possibility of incidence in parts of the country still exists. So Disease surveillance and epidemiological study is necessary to control the disease. The aim of this study was to investigate malaria in larestan during 2001-2011. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional–descriptive study. Use of patient records was conducted during 2001-2011 at the Larestan Center for Disease. Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients extract from the recorded documents and descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage frequency) and surveillance indicators ABER, SPR, API were calculated. For data analysis and calculation of indicators SPSS 16 and Excel 2007 software were used. Correspondence: Azizahhah Dehghan, MSc. Department of Biostatistics Faculty of Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences. Kerman, Iran Tel:+98 9171214107 Email: [email protected] Results: 623 cases were recorded. 87.5% was men, and 6.9% was Iranian. 89.4% suffering vivax, 7.4% falciparum and 3.2% was mixed. In addition, from an epidemiological point of view 52.5% were introduced cases, 45.9% were relapse cases, 1.6% were Indigenous cases, and none of them from local communication. 2 deaths were reported in 2001 and 2002. ABER index was 4.1 in 2009 compare to 1.8 in 2005. SPR index was 2.7 in 2001 compare to 0.05 for 2010, and API index was 95 per thousand in 2002 compare to 1.28 in 2011. SPR and API indices have regular decreasing. Conclusion: Results showed a regular decreasing trend in the incidence of malaria in larestan. If this trend and surveillance continue in the future, malaria will not be a health problem for larestan in future.