Scientific Reports (Jan 2022)

Risk of Plasmodium falciparum infection in south-west Burkina Faso: potential impact of expanding eligibility for seasonal malaria chemoprevention

  • Jean Baptiste Yaro,
  • Alfred B. Tiono,
  • Alphonse Ouedraogo,
  • Ben Lambert,
  • Z. Amidou Ouedraogo,
  • Amidou Diarra,
  • Adama Traore,
  • Malik Lankouande,
  • Issiaka Soulama,
  • Antoine Sanou,
  • Eve Worrall,
  • Efundem Agboraw,
  • N’Fale Sagnon,
  • Hilary Ranson,
  • Thomas S. Churcher,
  • Steve W. Lindsay,
  • Anne L. Wilson

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05056-7
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 1
pp. 1 – 11

Abstract

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Abstract Burkina Faso has one of the highest malaria burdens in sub-Saharan Africa despite the mass deployment of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and use of seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) in children aged up to 5 years. Identification of risk factors for Plasmodium falciparum infection in rural Burkina Faso could help to identify and target malaria control measures. A cross-sectional survey of 1,199 children and adults was conducted during the peak malaria transmission season in the Cascades Region of south-west Burkina Faso in 2017. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors for microscopically confirmed P. falciparum infection. A malaria transmission dynamic model was used to determine the impact on malaria cases averted of administering SMC to children aged 5–15 year old. P. falciparum prevalence was 32.8% in the study population. Children aged 5 to < 10 years old were at 3.74 times the odds (95% CI = 2.68–5.22, P < 0.001) and children aged 10 to 15 years old at 3.14 times the odds (95% CI = 1.20–8.21, P = 0.02) of P. falciparum infection compared to children aged less than 5 years old. Administration of SMC to children aged up to 10 years is predicted to avert an additional 57 malaria cases per 1000 population per year (9.4% reduction) and administration to children aged up to 15 years would avert an additional 89 malaria cases per 1000 population per year (14.6% reduction) in the Cascades Region, assuming current coverage of pyrethroid-piperonyl butoxide ITNs. Malaria infections were high in all age strata, although highest in children aged 5 to 15 years, despite roll out of core malaria control interventions. Given the burden of infection in school-age children, extension of the eligibility criteria for SMC could help reduce the burden of malaria in Burkina Faso and other countries in the region.