Prevalence of Malaria and its Association with ABO Blood Groups in District Battagram
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53560/PPASB(62-4)1119Keywords:
Malaria, ABO Blood Group, Plasmodium, Epidemiology, Risk FactorsAbstract
Malaria is a protozoan disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite and is moderately endemic in Pakistan. This study examined the correlation among malaria prevalence, ABO blood groups, and environmental risk factors in District Battagram. A total of 200 participants were screened for malaria by blood smear microscopy, and an agglutination test was performed to determine the blood group. The malarial prevalence was found to be 11.5%, reporting Plasmodium vivax 10.5% (n = 21) and falciparum 1% (n = 2). The highest number of malaria cases were in people with blood group B (10.35%), followed by blood group A (4.27%), and AB (0.07%), while no case was reported in participants having blood group O. Among the risk factors, sleeping outdoors and not having a past malaria history were two of the risk factors that were significantly associated with malaria positivity (p < 0.05). Other variables such as age, gender, closeness to stagnant water, and utilization of mosquito nets showed the prevalence but did not demonstrate a significant statistical correlation. It is suggested that blood group and malaria susceptibility can inform the targeted public health strategies for malaria prevention and control.
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