Prevalence of Malaria and Associated Factors Among Children Under 5 Years Following Mass Net Campaign and Indoor Residual Spraying in Amolatar District

Background: Mass LLINs distribution campaign and Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS) have been identified by the WHO as effective approaches for malaria prevention and control. Despite the scale up of interventions towards control and elimination of malaria, it’s still endemic in 91 countries worldwide with 3.3 billion people at risk of developing. In 2015, 212 million malaria cases occurred globally resulting into 429,000 deaths, 92% were in Africa. In 2019, 409,000 people died of malaria, mostly vulnerable children in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods: A community based, cross-sectional research design using quantitative data collection method was used. Semi-structured questionnaire were employed. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were done to identify factors associated to the prevalence of malaria among <5yrs. Results: The intended respondents (238) were interviewed and up to 44.1% (105/238) children tested positive for malaria. At multivariate analysis, Children living with married caretakers (AOR=2.54, 95% CI=1.23-5.25) had statistically significant association with malaria prevalence, Children of caretakers with poor perception towards LLIN use had 68% increased odds of getting malaria. Whereas, children who stay far away from water bodies (AOR=0.07, 95% CI=0.01-0.56) had reduced odds of getting malaria. Conclusions and recommendations: Malaria remains the major public health problems among children under 5 years in Amolatar district. Children living with married caretakers, Caretakers with poor perception towards LLIN use and living near water bodies were the risk factors to malaria. DHTs to strengthen malaria prevention and control strategies among children <5 years, health information dissemination about eliminating stagnating water bodies, and addressing poor perception of mothers of children <5years.