Abstract:
Background: Malaria is a public health problem in Tanzania affecting all age groups. It is known that school children
are the age group most commonly infected with malaria parasites. Their infections are usually asymptomatic,
go unnoticed and thus never get treated, result in anaemia, reduced ability to concentrate and learn in school and if
fallen sick may lead to school absenteeism. Effective malaria control requires frequent evaluation of effectiveness of
different malaria interventions.
Methods: A cross-sectional study design involving 317 out of 350 school children aged 6–13 years from five primary
schools within municipality was conducted. Multistage cluster sampling and simple random sampling methods were
used to obtain primary school and study participants, respectively. Finger-prick blood samples were collected for
Plasmodium parasite detection by malaria rapid diagnostic test (mRDT) and haemoglobin level assessment by Easy
Touch® GHb system machine. A questionnaire was administered to assess use of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and
anti-malarial drugs.
Results: The prevalence of asymptomatic malaria was 5.4 % (95 % CI 3.3–8.6 %) and anaemia was 10.1 % (95 % CI
7.2–13.9 %). School children aged 6–9 years were more affected by malaria than those aged 10–13 years. The proportion
of ITNs used was 90.6 % (95 % CI 86.3–93.9 %) while that of artemisinin combination therapy (ACT) was 71.9 %
(95 % CI 66.2–77.1 %).
Conclusion: Findings show existence of asymptomatic malaria and walking anaemia among primary school children
in Morogoro municipality. The majority of school children reported use of ITNs and ACT for malaria control. These findings
provide a rationale for using schools and school children to assess effectiveness of malaria interventions.
