Prevalence, Seasonality, and Risk Factors of Malaria and Some Arboviral Infections and Co-Infections in Nigeria

Abstract

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors of malaria and arboviral infections in Nigeria. Method: Molecular techniques were used to test 1020 febrile patients in 10 hospitals in Lagos, Ogun, and FCT between 2022 and 2023. Blood samples were collected from study participants and tested for malaria using rapid diagnostics tests, microscopy, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In addition, the samples were tested for arboviruses using PCR. Statistical analysis was performed using Stata version 17, at a 5% level of significance. Result: Zika had the highest prevalence among study participants (23.3%) followed by malaria (12%), West Nile (5.8%), Chikungunya (5.7%), Dengue (3.3%), and yellow fever (2%). There were sixteen combinations of co-infection from this study, Chikungunya- Zika co-infection had the highest prevalence (4.6%) followed by Zika-West Nile co-infection (3.3%) and Chikungunya-West Nile co-infection (3.1%). Travel history was significantly associated with the prevalence of malaria (X2=6.52, P-value=0.001) and DenV (X2=4.91, P-value=0.027). Seasonality was also significantly associated with malaria (X2=10.28, P-value=0.001), DenV (X2=7.67, P-value=0.006), and ZikV (X2=6.54, P-value=0.011). State of residence was significantly associated with all vector-borne diseases (P