The profile of malaria and intestinal parasites among refugees attending the Denis Hurley Centre in central Durban in 2014.
Loading...
Date
2014
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The majority of the refugee population congregate and live in major South
African cities, some in overcrowded housing without access to basic health care
and social services. These conditions put them at risk of transmission and spread of
communicable diseases both amongst themselves and in the population they come
into contact with. Therefore, knowledge of the burden of communicable diseases
among them is crucial. In South Africa, there is limited data available on the
prevalence of malaria and intestinal parasites in refugee populations. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of malaria and intestinal
parasites among refugees attending the Denis Hurley Centre in Central Durban in
South Africa in 2014. Three articles analyse 303 participants, who attended the Denis Hurley Centre,
Emmanuel Cathedral Parish in Central Durban, aged 18 years and above, provided
written consent and responded to a questionnaire on their demographic details. The
presence of malaria, intestinal parasites and haematological profiles of the
participants were analysed using Rapid test detection kits, microscopy and the
Sysmex XE 5000 automated haematology analyser. The results confirm the presence of asymptomatic malaria (prevalence 3.8%) in the
refugee population living in the city. The majority of those infected originated from
the Democratic Republic of Congo, followed by Burundi and Rwanda. More than
90% of the infections were due to Plasmodium falciparum. The prevalence of
intestinal parasite infection among 270 participants was 18.8%. Common parasites
identified were hookworm and A. lumbricoides. The results showed eosinophillia in
40.2% of 92 participants who were screened for haematological parameters. The
mean absolute haemoglobin (Hb) level was reduced in 6.5% of the malaria positive
patients (9.2 g/dl) with an extremely low packed cell volume (PCV) of 28.3%. While
the total non-malaria infected cases 93.5% had a normal mean absolute Hb value of
12.6 g/dl and a slightly low packed cell volume value of 38 %. Results from the present study confirm the presence of and provided useful
information on the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria and chronic intestinal
parasites in the refugees attending the Denis Hurley Centre in Central Durban.
Description
Master of Medical Sciences in Public Health Medicine.
Keywords
Plasmodium -- South Africa -- Durban., Helminths -- South Africa -- Durban -- Hosts., Protozoan diseases -- South Africa -- Durban., Refugees -- Health -- South Africa -- Durban., Theses -- Public health medicine., Denis Hurley Centre., Malaria parasites.