Prevalence of malaria infection among under five year tribal children residing in malaria endemic forest villages

Malaria is a life-threatening protozoal infection and India has the highest malaria burden in South East Asia. The objective of this communication is to assess the prevalence of malaria infection amongst forest dwelling tribal children under the age of five residing in malaria endemic regions of the Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states of India. A total of 5,801 children attended seven outpatient mobile clinics in 2012. Of them, 2,123 children had a history of fever and were screened for malaria with a Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT). About 37% of children had a history of fever. Of them, 34% children were diagnosed with malaria. The majority (66%) of children with a positive RDT had a mixed malaria infection of both Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax , followed by single infections of P. falciparum (18.9%) and P. vivax (14.2%). Malaria infection is a major public health concern amongst the tribal children residing in these malaria endemic forest villages. Therefore, region specific sustainable intervention measures need to be initiated for the prevention and control of malaria and malaria related deaths in this region.