Epidemiological trends of malaria in the Western regions of Saudi Arabia: a cross sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: Saudi Arabia has successfully reduced malaria cases to be constrained largely in the western regions. This study aimed to determine the epidemiological trends of malaria infection in five western regions of Saudi Arabia. Methodology: A retrospective analysis was conducted to investigate the epidemiological trends of malaria infection in the western regions, based on the published registry of the Saudi Ministry of Health, during the period from 2014 to 2017 using the appropriate statistical tools. Results: A total of 8925 confirmed cases of malaria were reported in the western regions during the period from 2014 to 2017 with the mean of 2231 malaria cases per year. The minimum (n = 1097) and maximum (n = 4075) number of cases were reported in 2014 and 2016 respectively. The highest (n = 5919, 66.3%) number of cases were reported from Jazan region, while lowest (n = 86, 1.0%) number of cases were reported from Al-Bahah region. Plasmodium falciparum was the most frequently reported species with 7485 (83.9%) cases, while Plasmodium vivax accounted 1386 (15.5%) cases. Plasmodium malariae and mixed infections were insignificant and accounted 0.5% (n = 48) and 0.1% (n = 6) cases respectively. In relation to malaria infection and age group, malaria was predominant in > 15 age group. The highest number of malaria cases in almost all years was observed from January until March and the lowest number was reported from May until July. Conclusions: Plasmodium falciparum was the most dominant species in this survey and Jazan was the most affected region.