Malaria Vector Abundance and the Incidence of Malaria Parasite amongst Students Living in Nnamdi Azikiwe University Hostels

Introduction: Malaria remains an important public health disease in both tropical and subtropical countries of Africa where transmission is mainly through the bite of an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Aim: The main aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of malaria parasite and the abundance of malaria vectors in and around the university hostels.  Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out in some selected hostels of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, from the month of March to September, 2018. Methodology: One hundred and fifty (150) students which volunteered from the selected hostels were tested for malaria parasite. Questionnaire on the frequency of clinical symptoms were distributed to these students. Indoor resting mosquitoes were collected through pyrethrum spray-sheet collection (PSC).Larval sampling was carried out for the immature stages of mosquitoes. Results: Of the students examined for malaria parasite, 135 (90%) showed positivity to the parasite. From the questionnaire distributed, 30 (20%) of the students were treated for malaria every 3months, 20(13.3%) every 6 months, 24 (16%) before resuming school, and 76(50.7%) only treated when they developed clinical malaria. Two hundred and two (202) mosquito larvae were collected from their breeding habitats during larval sampling and two hundred and four (204) adult mosquitoes of different species were collected indoors. However there was no significant difference between the number of rooms sampled and the number of mosquitoes collected at 5% level of significance (x2tab > x2cal; 9.488 >6.307). Conclusion: The study revealed that the students living in the hostels were highly exposed to malaria infection and a host of other mosquito borne diseases. The abundance of Anopheles gambiae sensu lacto in the university environment and the high prevalence rate of malaria is an indication of continuous transmission in the area. Therefore re-echoed awareness campaigns on the danger of malaria infection and its prevention and control through personal and environmental management should be carried out to educate all students especially those who attended medical check-ups during registration.