The situation of malaria along the Vietnam-Lao PDR border and some related factors

• Main Authors: P. N. Khai, N. T. Van, Tran Thi Lua, V. T. Huu, D. T. Dang, P. T. Huong, N. Salazar, Y. Sukthana, P. Singhasivanon
• Other Authors: Thai Binh Medical College
• Format: Article
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: Medicine
• Online Access: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/26093
• Institution: Mahidol University

This was a descriptive cross sectional study. It was done in 4 communes along the Vietnam-Lao PDR border of two mountainous provinces: Sonla and Nghean. The cluster multistage sampling technique was applied to choose the study sites. The results of the study show: Among the 2.441 persons given blood tests to find malaria parasites, 0.7% of them carry malaria parasite, of whom 0.6% carry P. falcifarum and 0.1% carry P. vivax. The malaria morbidity in the year was 6.9%. The mortality due to malaria is 1.59 per 100,000 population per year. Among the 106 hamlet motivators being interviewed, only 75.5% knew that malaria is transmitted by mosquitos, 71.7% knew that malaria patients are a source of transmission, over 50% of the motivators have mistaken understanding about the living environment of malaria mosquitos. Most of them have had mistakes in diagnosis, treatment of malaria, mosquito-killing spraying. Among the 729 adults being interviewed, 59.0% did not know about the causes of malaria, 30.7% did not take part in malaria control activities. Only 69.3% of the adults regularly sleep inside mosquito nets, 68% of adults buy medicine to cure malaria, 39.9% referred patients to health facilities for cure, and 25% use forest herbs to cure malaria. The factors that increased the malaria morbidity in communes along Vietnam-Lao PDR border have been identified.