Cairns, Matthew E; Walker, Patrick GT; Okell, Lucy C; Griffin, Jamie T; Garske, Tini; Asante, Kwaku Poku; Owusu-Agyei, Seth; Diallo, Diadier; Dicko, Alassane; Cisse, Badara; +4 more... Greenwood, Brian M; Chandramohan, Daniel; Ghani, Azra C; Milligan, Paul J; (2015) Seasonality in malaria transmission: implications for case-management with long-acting artemisinin combination therapy in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria journal, 14 (1). 321-. ISSN 1475-2875 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-015-0839-4
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Long-acting artemisinin-based combination therapy (LACT) offers the potential to prevent recurrent malaria attacks in highly exposed children. However, it is not clear where this advantage will be most important, and deployment of these drugs is not rationalized on this basis. METHODS: To understand where post-treatment prophylaxis would be most beneficial, the relationship between seasonality, transmission intensity and the interval between malaria episodes was explored using data from six cohort studies in West Africa and an individual-based malaria transmission model. The total number of recurrent malaria cases per 1000 child-years at risk, and the fraction of the total annual burden that this represents were estimated for sub-Saharan Africa. RESULTS: In settings where prevalence is less than 10 %, repeat malaria episodes constitute a small fraction of the total burden, and few repeat episodes occur within the window of protection provided by currently available drugs. However, in higher transmission settings, and particularly in high transmission settings with highly seasonal transmission, repeat malaria becomes increasingly important, with up to 20 % of the total clinical burden in children estimated to be due to repeat episodes within 4 weeks of a prior attack. CONCLUSION: At a given level of transmission intensity and annual incidence, the concentration of repeat malaria episodes in time, and consequently the protection from LACT is highest in the most seasonal areas. As a result, the degree of seasonality, in addition to the overall intensity of transmission, should be considered by policy makers when deciding between ACT that differ in their duration of post-treatment prophylaxis.
Item Type | Article |
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Faculty and Department |
Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases > Dept of Disease Control Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases > Dept of Clinical Research Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health > Dept of Infectious Disease Epidemiology |
Research Centre |
Antimicrobial Resistance Centre (AMR) Tropical Epidemiology Group |
PubMed ID | 26283418 |
ISI | 359594400001 |
Related URLs |