Prevalence of malaria among patients attending public health facilities in Maputo City, Mozambique

We conducted a health facility-based survey to estimate the prevalence of malaria among febrile patients at health facilities (HFs) in Maputo City. Patients answered a questionnaire on malaria risk factors and underwent malaria testing. A malaria case was defined as a positive result for malaria by microscopy in a patient with fever or history of fever in the previous 24 hours. Among 706 patients with complete information, 111 (15.7%) cases were identified: 105 were positive for Plasmodium falciparum only, two for Plasmodium ovale only, and four for both P. falciparum and P. ovale. Fever documented at study enrollment, age ≥ 5 years, rural HF, and travel outside Maputo City were statistically significantly associated with malaria by multivariate analysis. We found a high prevalence of laboratory-confirmed malaria among febrile patients in Maputo City. Further studies are needed to relate these findings with mosquito density to better support malaria prevention and control. Copyright © 2011 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.