Spatio-temporal variation and socio-demographic characters of malaria in Chimoio municipality, Mozambique

In Africa, urban malaria is a major concern, since the towns and especially their suburbs are growing quickly. In Mozambique, malaria represents 45 % of all cases of outpatient visits and 56 % of inpatient visits at paediatric clinics. Malaria is a major public health burden in Chimoio Mozambique and few studies on malaria exist. The study was carried out to establish the spatiality and temporality of malaria and describe socio-demographic characteristics of malaria patients in Chimoio. Weekly malaria data for 9 years (2006-2014) were collected from the district Epidemiological Bulletin and incidence by season, age, gender, and residence was calculated. SPSS version 20 was used for statistical analysis and ArcGis 10.1 was used to produce maps. The annual overall average of malaria incidence was 20.1 % and the attributable fraction (AF) of malaria was 16 %. There were differences in weekly and yearly malaria occurrences throughout the period. There was no difference in malaria cases between male and female patients. Children under 5 years of age are three times more prone to malaria than adults (p