Twelve per cent of outpatients in Kakamega's Lugari subcounty suffer from malaria.
Subcounty malaria control co-ordinator Celine Makokha said on Tuesday that two to five per cent of patients admitted to hospitals suffer from malaria.
Two per cent of deaths in the subcounty are caused by malaria, she told a health stakeholders meeting in Lumakanda centre.
Makokha said Chevaywa ward had the highest number of cases.
She attributed the high prevalence of malaria to poor uptake of interventions by the government.
“It's regrettable that despite government awareness campaigns on the need to sleep under insecticide-treated nets, some residents still put nets to other uses and contract malaria," she said.
Some families just store the nets, others use them to protect kitchen gardens from domestic poultry.
Other measures include early testing and treatment, indoor spraying and elimination of stagnant water.
Likuyani and Lugari are sections of Kakamega prone to highland malaria.
She said her department has given community health volunteers with skills, tools and drugs to test and treat malaria at the grassroots level.
Severe cases and expectant mothers are referred to the health facilities.
