Characteristic and trends of malaria in Surat district of Gujarat: a hospital based study

Background: Malaria is a major health problem and infects many individuals despite of various efforts to control it. The present study was aimed to observe characteristics of malaria, seasonal variation and prevalence of malaria in our region. Methods: This retrospective study was conducted in our institute from period of January 2012 to December 2012. All the fever cases undergone investigations for malarial parasites were included in present study for defined time period. All the laboratory data of the patients having fever were retrieved from the Pathology Laboratory of our institute. Results: out of total 32674 reports studied 4907(15.01%) were positive for malaria with overall Slide positivity rate and slide falciparum rate were 15.01% and 38.29% respectively. Incidence of malaria occurs throughout year with increased incidence of P. falciparum in monsoon. Conclusion: In the present study incidence of malaria was higher in monsoon in comparison to other seasons. But throughout the year no declining trends in incidence of malaria was observed. P. vivax malaria was more commonly observed in our study but incidence of P. falciparum increased in monsoon. [Int J Res Med Sci 2014; 2(1.000): 151-153]