Table 2.
Prevalence of malaria infections in rural communities of Kapit Division, Sarawak
| Characteristics | No. of individuals | Malaria positive by microscopy | Malaria positive by nested PCR assay | PCR (%) | 95% CI | P-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plasmodium knowlesi | Plasmodium falciparum | Plasmodium vivax | ||||||
| Overall | 376 | 18 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 5.32 | 3.47–8.07 | – |
| Age (years) | ||||||||
| ≤ 17 | 91 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00–4.05 | 0.02* |
| 18–40 | 151 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5.96 | 3.17–10.94 | |
| > 40 | 126 | 9 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 8.73 | 4.94–14.96 | |
| Not stated | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00–32.44 | |
| Gender | ||||||||
| Female | 223 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 4.04 | 2.14–7.49 | 0.34 |
| Male | 151 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6.62 | 3.64–11.76 | |
| Not stated | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | 9.45–90.55 | |
| Localities | ||||||||
| Lusong Laku | 196 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00–1.92 | < 0.001* |
| Sg. Koyan | 82 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00–4.48 | |
| Nanga Banyau | 81 | 18 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 24.69 | 16.59–35.08 | |
| Sg. Asap | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00–18.43 | |
| Occupation | ||||||||
| Housewife | 157 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 4.46 | 2.18–8.92 | 0.003* |
| Dependent (e.g., Tertiary student, school-age children/minors) | 90 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.11 | 0.20–6.03 | |
| Field workers (e.g., agricultural workers, laborers) | 67 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7.46 | 3.23–16.31 | |
| Non-field workers (e.g., public sector employees, government workers, self-employed) | 29 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 20.69 | 9.85–38.39 | |
| Unemployed/Retiree | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00–15.46 | |
| Non stated | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8.33 | 1.49–35.39 | |
| Education | ||||||||
| Receive Formal Education | 243 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 5.35 | 3.15–8.94 | 0.76 |
| No Formal Education | 102 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 5.88 | 2.72–12.24 | |
| Not stated | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5.56 | 1.00–25.76 | |
| Income | ||||||||
| < RM500 | 305 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 3.61 | 2.03–6.34 | < 0.001* |
| > RM500 | 50 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 18.00 | 9.77–30.8 | |
| Not stated | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.00–15.46 | |
| Previous history of malaria infection | ||||||||
| Yes | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 16.67 | 5.84–39.22 | 0.63 |
| No | 358 | 16 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 4.75 | 2.99–7.47 | |
| Fever | ||||||||
| Afebrile | 358 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.56 | 0.15–2.01 | < 0.001* |
| Febrile | 18 | 18 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 100.00 | 82.41–100.00 | |
| Anemia status | ||||||||
| Non-anemic | 243 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 4.12 | 2.25–7.41 | 0.51 |
| Anemic | 66 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6.06 | 2.38–14.57 | |
| Not available | 67 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8.96 | 4.17–18.19 | |
95% CI: 95% Confidence Interval
*Statistically significant at P < 0.05