Malaria Knowledge and Infection Among Migrant Population in the China-vietnam Border: A Questionnaire-based Survey

BackgroundBorder malaria remain as one of the greatest challenges facing elimination in China. Malaria control interventions among migrant population across border relies on personal protection from mosquito bites. Understanding the knowledge of the link between mosquitoes and malaria will inform malaria control and elimination programmes on those targeted risk population.MethodsFrom March 2018 to September 2019, 108 migrant workers from Vietnam were enrolled conducted in Ning Ming County in Guangxi. Each people were interviewed using the structured questionnaires. Blood samples were collected and sent to the PCR detection and sequenced.ResultsMalaria knowledge was poor with 19.4% on transmission, 23.2% on clinical symptoms, 7.4% on awareness of the risk of death, and 14.8% on awareness of prevention methods. No significant difference was found among occupations except for migrant workers, whose knowledge rate were higher than other occupations. Most of the participants (80.6%) had mosquito nets and 73.2% of them had 2 persons who were under the bed net at night. The usage rate of bed-nets accounted for over 49.1%. For parasitological study, 5.6% (n = 6) of all participants infected tested positive for malaria, and no statistically significant differences in the positive rate among different age, sex, family size, nationality, occupation and different behaviors.ConclusionThe health education focus on the high risk population such as migrant workers and forest goers should be strengthened. Therefore, health education based on verbal communication such as web, radio, and mobile phone may be required under the COVID-19 pandemic situation. Further risk assessment of importation and proactive case detection should also be carried out, not only in Ningming County, but also in other border counties in Guangxi, which aimed to timely detect the patients, as well as the asymptomatic infections that could cause the re-establishment of malaria.