Malaria Mapping Based on Patients’ Characteristic, Mosquito Breeding Place and Insecticide-Treated Net Use in The Work Area of Radamata and Waimangura Health Center of Sumba Barat Daya District

Abstract

Malaria is an infectious disease caused by the plasmodium parasite that lives and reproduces in human red blood cells. Sumba Barat Daya is one of the districts in Nusa Tenggara Timur Province with a high malaria endemic status. Factors influencing the high malaria rate in NTT include awareness of the importance of using and maintaining insecticide-treated nets and awareness of the existence of mosquito breeding places. This study aimed to know the distribution of malaria at  Radamata and Waimangura Public Health Centers based on age, gender, occupation, presence of mosquito breeding sites, and the use and maintenance of insecticide-treated mosquito nets. The research was descriptive with a geographic information system approach. Total sampling was applied, with the highest cases of 154 in Radamata health center and the lowest cases of 15 in Waimangura. The mapping revealed that malaria was higher in the male group, working as students and at the age of 15-64. Breeding sites were not discovered in within 1 km of respondents' houses, and nearly all respondents used insecticide-treated nets with holes. Due to limited knowledge, all respondents washed the mosquito nets and never performed heat regeneration. While some had insecticide-treated mosquito nets, some respondents did not, either because they did not obtain them from public health centers or integrated health posts or because the nets were already ruined.