CLIMATE AND MALARIA
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Date
2006
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Department of Geography and Planning, Kogi State University, Anyigba
Abstract
Malaria menace has become an economic burden in the tropical countries. No
single measure of control through the use of drugs seems effective. This paper identified the most crucial climatic parameters that are responsible for the outbreak of malaria in the tropical city of Ilorin Kwara State. Reports of weather pattern and occurrences of malaria diseases were examined during the period 199 L•2000. Climatic data (rainfall, relative humidity, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, evaporation and wind) were grouped into two - dry season period (November - April) and rainy season period (May - October). Monthly.means of climatic variables and outbreak of malaria were calculated for the study period (1991-2000). Simple regression analysis and correlation were employed to investigate the relationship. The result of the analyses showed seasonal variation in outbreak severity. Mean malaria occurrence was 96.5 during the dry season and 154.0 during the wet season. Based on the results of correlation analysis, rainfall displayed the strongest positive relationship of 0.737 while maximum temperature showed strongest negative relationship of - 0.789.
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Keywords
Climate, rainfall, humidity, temperature