21st Annual Student Research Conference
Utilization of PDAs by Community Health Workers for Field Collection of Malaria Statistics in Rural Haiti
Nicholas X. Mann
Dr. Lin Twining, Faculty Mentor
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and is home to some of the most pressing healthcare issues in the world. Malaria, a disease considered eradicated in the United States since 1951, still presents a serious health concern in Haiti today. This project established a working model to survey rural areas and collect health statistics for use in control and treatment of the parasite. Two "teams" of Haitian health care workers were trained to conduct home visits, during which individuals were screened for febrile illnesses and tested with the CareStart(TM) Malaria pLDH rapid diagnostic test kits. (AccessBio) Screening was done through a survey administered to all individuals identifying as "sick" in a given household. The survey was created with a program called Pendragon Forms. More than 325 individuals presenting with fever have been tested (May 2007-January 2008) resulting in a prevalence of 27%.
Keywords: Malaria, Haiti, RDT, Epidemiology, Immunochromatographic, Hispanola, Parasitology, Survey
Topic(s):Biology
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 2-2
Location: VH 1432
Time: 8:30