The clinical impact of combining intermittent preventive treatment with home management of malaria in children aged below five years: Cluster randomised trial

Authors: Harry Tagbor, Matthew Cairns, Emmanuel Nakwa, Edmund Browne, Badu Sarkodie, Helen Counihan, Sylvia Meek, Daniel Chandramohan

This study aimed to investigate the impact of seasonal intermittent preventive treatment on malaria-related morbidity in children under five who already had access to home-based management of malaria for presumptive treatment of fevers.

Abstract

WHO (2009) estimates that the global incidence of malaria is between 190 and 311 million cases annually, resulting in approximately 850 000 deaths. Morbidity and mortality from malaria is greatest in sub-Saharan Africa, with children under 5 years of age the most vulnerable group (WHO 2005). This study aims to investigate the impact of seasonal intermittent preventive treatment (IPTc) on malaria-related morbidity in children under five years of age who already had access to home-based management of malaria (HMM) for presumptive treatment of fevers. The authors report that in this study area, incidence of fevers was lower in communities given three courses of IPTc during the time of peak transmission than in communities that received only HMM. They further report that high levels of coverage for IPTc will be necessary for maximum impact.

Citation: H. Tagbor et al. Impact of combining IPTc with HMM, Tropical Medicine and International Health, Volume 16 no 3 pp280–289 March 2011