changes in malaria indices in an ethiopian health centre: a five year retrospective analysis

background malaria affects the health and wealth of individuals, as well as nations. in ethiopia, malaria is identified as both a disease of poverty and a cause of poverty. objectives a retrospective analysis was conducted to investigate the changes in malaria indices at the serbo health center, ethiopia. materials and methods based on existing blood smear examination data. the original case records were carefully reviewed, analyzed and interpreted. results among the total of 51610 blood smear examinations, 26602 were found to be positive and contributed to 51.5% of the diagnostic yield. all of the 51610 cases were treated at the serbo health center. males constituted a total of 56.1% participants in this study (14934/26602 cases) and they were found to be more prone to having a positive malaria smear. chi-square analysis showed a statistically significant association between male patients and the incidence of malaria (p = 0.0001; χ2 = 212.5; df = 4). plasmodium falciparum contributes to about 62.4% of malaria cases followed by p vivax (37.3%). conclusions there is an urgent need for active health education campaigns and the administration of front-line vector control interventions such as the consistent deployment of insecticide-treated bed-nets and indoor residual spraying to interrupt disease transmission and an eventual reduction in the number of malaria cases.