Abstract:

Malaria remains one of the most wild spread infectious diseases of humankind, threatening approximately half the world’s population and causing debilitating illness in more than 216 million people morbidity and mortality is particularly high in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is prevalent throughout Cameroon with transmission being affected by climate and geography, increased drug resistance and the lack of adequate vector control measles. It accounts for 40 to 45% of medical consultations, 57% of hospitalization days and 40% of mortality among children below 5 years. The objective of this study wee to determine the proportion of patients attending Limbe Regional Hospital whose self- diagnosis of malaria is confirm with Laboratory Analysis. A questionnaire was administered to the participants in a cross-section study. The respondent’s consent was sought. Data was analyzed manually for chi square. The level of significant was set at p>0.05. in this study, 65.7% of the 105 participants successfully self diagnosed malaria. Also, 71.4% of the studied participants knew the true cause of malaria to be plasmodium parasite .The commonest signs and symptoms as mentioned by the respondent were as follows : 33(31.4%) increased by body temperature , 23(21.9%) headache ,12(11.429%)body pains .12(11.4%) sweating and 25(23.8%) gave other symptoms .The level of education attained by respondents greatly influenced their ability to self-diagnosed malaria and to know the true cause of malaria (x² calculated =14.02, x² Tabulated = 5.99, P < 0.05).Competent authorities need to intensify and implement proper health education messages on the risk factors of malaria in order to improve upon the understanding of disease in the nation.

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