Changing epidemiology of Plasmodium vivax malaria in Nouakchott, Mauritania: a six-year (2015–2020) prospective study

Table 4 P. vivax monoinfections by age, sex, and ethnic groups in Nouakchott, 2015–2020

Characteristics	PCR-positive P. vivax infections
Age group (years)
< 5	32 (14.8)
5–9	18 (8.3)
10–14	33 (15.3)
15–19	23 (10.6)
≥ 20	110 (51.0)
Total	216
Sex
Male	128 (59.3)
Female	88 (40.7)
Ethnic group
White Moors	166 (76.8)
Black Moors	44 (20.4)
Black Africans	6 (2.8)

Data are expressed as the number of PCR-confirmed P. vivax-infected patients and % in parentheses. There were a total of 216 PCR-confirmed P. vivax monoinfections
For statistical analysis, the age groups < 5, 5–9, 10–14, and 15–19 years old were pooled and considered as “children and adolescents” for comparison to “adults” (> 20 years old). The difference in the proportions of P. vivax monoinfections in children and adolescents (106/1073, 9.9%) and in adults (110/687, 16.0%) was statistically significant (P = 0.0002). The difference in the proportions of males and females with P. vivax was statistically significant (P = 0.0018)
The ethnic groups, Black Moors and black Africans, were pooled together into a single group and compared to white Moors. The difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.0765). The ethnic groups were also compared separately, 2 by 2. The difference in the proportion of white Moors infected with P. vivax monoinfection (9.4%) and that of black Africans with P. vivax monoinfection (6.1%) was statistically significant (P = 0.0305). There was no statistically significant difference between white and black Moors (P = 0.340)

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