Geospatial Analysis of Malaria Prevalence among Children Under Five Years in Jigawa State, North West, Nigeria

Abstract Malaria is one of the leading causes of illness and death in developing countries. Despite growing international concern and efforts to provide effective treatment through the development and improvement of vector control mechanisms, malaria infection continues to remain a leading health problem in Africa, particularly south of the Sahara. At present, however, very few studies have been undertaken that investigate the spatial distribution of malaria cases. This study, therefore, aims to employ geospatial tools to map out areas of high and low malaria prevalence among children under the age of five years. Annual malaria prevalence was computed using confirmed cases from 2014 to 2019 in Jigawa state. Spatial autocorrelation techniques using global Moran’s I and Getis-Ord Gi* statistics were applied. Overall malaria prevalence ranged between 2,743 and 12,916 per 100,000 populations. Results of the overall global Moran’s I indicate a statistically significant degree of positive autocorrelation (I = 0.358122, Z = 3.721018, P = 0.000198) and all the years under study showed clustered patterns. Hotspot analysis was further explored to show the location of clusters. The results of the analysis detected high prevalence clusters in central and north-western parts of the state. The study recommends targeting hotspot areas in the design and implementation of malaria control activities.