Research Article Asymptomatic Plasmodium Infection and Associated Factors in Selected Districts of the Kaffa Zone, Southwest Ethiopia: A Cross- Sectional Study Tadesse Duguma , Eyob Tekalign , and Mitiku Abera Department of Medical Laboratory Science, College of Health Science and Medicine, Mizan• Tepi University, Mizan•Aman, Ethiopia Correspondence should be addressed to Tadesse Duguma; tadesse.dhuguma@gmail.com Received 30 April 2022; Revised 15 July 2022; Accepted 31 March 2023; Published 13 April 2023 Academic Editor: Linda Amoah Copyright © 2023 Tadesse Duguma et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Background. Malaria remains a serious public health problem, particularly in resource scarce areas of the world. Te number of malaria cases has dropped remarkably in Ethiopia over the last decade, and eforts to eliminate the disease are underway. Asymptomatic infections may pose signifcant challenges to the elimination program. Te essence of this study was to assess the prevalence of asymptomatic Plasmodium infection and the associated factors among communities of the selected districts in the Kafa zone. Materials and Methods. April to May and September to October 2021, were the two seasons in which the community• based cross•sectional survey was conducted. Capillary blood from a fnger prick was examined by light microscopy (LM) and screened using rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs). Te participants’ sociodemographic characteristics and malaria prevention measures were collected using a pretested semistructured questionnaire. Data entry and analyses were carried out using EpiData and SPSS version 25.0. Logistic regression (bivariate and multivariable) analyses were carried out to assess the possible associations between the dependent variable and the associated factors. Results. 566 study participants were involved in the two cross•sectional surveys, including 234 male and 332 female subjects with a mean age of 18.486 (SD ± 15.167). Tirty•eight blood samples (6.7%) were found to be positive for Plasmodium species tested by both LM and RDT. Last night’s use of long•lasting insecticidal net (LLIN) (AOR � 2.448, 95% CI: 1.009 5.938, p � 0.048), presence of eave (AOR � 4.144, 95% CI: 1.049–16.363, p � 0.043), and house sprayed in the last year (AOR � 5.206, 95% CI: 2.176–12.455, p < 0.001) were among factors that showed signifcant association with asymptomatic Plasmodium infection. Conclusion. Te asymptomatic Plasmodium infection prevalence recorded in the study area was low. Last night’s LLIN usage, the presence of an eave, a house sprayed in the last year, and the presence of stagnant water near the home of the study participants were among the factors associated with an increased risk of catching the disease. 1. Introduction 1.1.Background. Many countries in the world are still sufering from malaria, the deadliest and most common protozoan in• fection in humans. 627,000 malaria deaths were reported in 2021, which is also evidenced by an increase of the cases from the previous two years, 2019 and 2020, which accounts for ap• proximately 95% of cases, with WHO African region countries accounting for most of this increase [1, 2]. Almost half of the world’s nations are now malaria•free as a result of integrated malaria•fghting eforts over the last decade and a hal f [3]. Malaria transmission in Ethiopia has a dynamic pattern, with unstable and seasonal transmission occurring in the majority of the country’s transmission areas. Perennial transmission occurs in the country’s western lowlands, where the climate is conducive to malaria transmission all year [4]. Altitude and rainfall are two environmental and climatic factors that have a major impact on transmission. Te two most prevalent forms of human malaria in Ethiopia are P. falciparum and P. vivax [5]. In high transmission areas, continuous exposure to Plasmodium parasites leads to partial immunity and, consequently, creates asymptomatic Hindawi Journal of Tropical Medicine Volume 2023, Article ID 4144834, 9 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/4144834