Ntab, Balthazar; Cissé, Badara; Boulanger, Denis; Sokhna, Cheikh; Targett, Geoffrey; Lines, Jo; Alexander, Neal; Trape, Jean-François; Simondon, François; Greenwood, Brian M; +1 more... Simondon, Kirsten B; (2007) Impact of intermittent preventive anti-malarial treatment on the growth and nutritional status of preschool children in rural Senegal (west Africa). The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 77 (3). pp. 411-417. ISSN 0002-9637 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2007.77.411
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Abstract
Negative consequences of malaria might account for seasonality in nutritional status in children in the Sahel. We report the impact of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of seasonal intermittent preventive anti-malarial treatment on growth and nutritional status in 1,063 Senegalese preschool children. A combination of artesunate and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine was given monthly from September to November. In the intervention arm, mean weight gain was significantly greater (122.9 +/- 340 versus 42.9 +/- 344 [SD] g/mo, P < 0.0001) and losses in triceps and subscapular skinfold measurements were less (-0.39 +/- 1.01 versus -0.66 +/- 1.01 mm/mo, and -0.15 +/- 0.64 versus -0.36 +/- 0.62 mm/mo, respectively, P < 0.0001 for both). There was no difference in height increments. The prevalence of wasting increased significantly in the control arm (4.6% before versus 9.5% after, P < 0.0001), but remained constant in intervention children: 5.6% versus 7.0% (P = 0.62). The prevention of malaria would improve child nutritional status in areas with seasonal transmission.
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