CURRENT STATUS OF MALARIA AND ONCHOCERCIASIS AMONG FIELD WORKERS IN TEPPI GREEN COFFEE PLANTATION ESTATE, TEPPI AREA, SOUTH WEST ETHIOPIA

The epidemiology of malaria may vary considerably within relatively small geographical areas; besides, it is currently reported that Onchocerca-infected individuals living in onchocerciasis endemic areas are also susceptible to malaria because malaria shares similar epidemiological characteristics with onchocerciasis. Therefore, the present study was aimed at assessing the current and past magnitude of malaria parasite and Onchocerca volvulus infections and co-infections among field workers in Teppi Green Coffee Plantation Estate, Teppi area, south west Ethiopia. A total of 403 participants were recruited for the study using sequential sampling technique. Of these, 279 (69.2%) were males and 124 (30.8%) were females. A laboratory based cross-sectional study design was carried out from December 2017 to January 2018. A five year retrospective health record was collected. The current data were collected by laboratory diagnosis of blood samples and skin snips. The overall prevalence of malaria and onchocerciasis were 22.6% (91/403) and 3.7% (15/403), respectively. Data from retrospective studies showed that bot disease cases were at a declining trend. The highest proportion of annual malaria cases (42.7%) was recorded in 2013 and the lowest (14.2%) recorded in 2016. As a whole, the predominant Plasmodium species detected was P. vivax (65.8%) followed by P. falciparum (33.1%) and mixed malarial parasites of both species (1.1%). The study indicated that there was no co-infection of Malaria parasite and Onchocerca volvulus infection. The prevalence of onchocercal skin dermatitis (onchocerciasis) showed a gradual decreasing trend in the past five years. The highest (9.5%) prevalence of onchocerciasis cases was detected in the year 2012 and the lowest (1.9%) in 2016. Although a high level of reduction of malaria and Onchocerciasis were noticed in the study, the number of confirmed cases was considerable. Therefore, control interventions and awareness creation should be maintained and scaled-up to reduce and eventually eliminate the diseases from the area