Seasonal malaria chemoprevention combined with community case management of malaria in children under 10 years of age, over 5 months, in south-east Senegal: A cluster-randomised trial.

Abstract

BackgroundSeasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) is recommended in the Sahel region of Africa for children under 5 years of age, for up to 4 months of the year. It may be appropriate to include older children, and to provide protection for more than 4 months. We evaluated the effectiveness of SMC using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine given over 5 months to children under 10 years of age in Saraya district in south-east Senegal in 2011.Methods and findingsTwenty-four villages, including 2,301 children aged 3-59 months and 2,245 aged 5-9 years, were randomised to receive SMC with community case management (CCM) (SMC villages) or CCM alone (control villages). In all villages, community health workers (CHWs) were trained to treat malaria cases with artemisinin combination therapy after testing with a rapid diagnostic test (RDT). In SMC villages, CHWs administered SMC to children aged 3 months to 9 years once a month for 5 months. The study was conducted from 27 July to 31 December 2011. The primary outcome was malaria (fever or history of fever with a positive RDT). The prevalence of anaemia and parasitaemia was measured in a survey at the end of the transmission season. Molecular markers associated with resistance to SMC drugs were analysed in samples from incident malaria cases and from children with parasitaemia in the survey. SMC was well tolerated with no serious adverse reactions. There were 1,472 RDT-confirmed malaria cases in the control villages and 270 in the SMC villages. Among children under 5 years of age, the rate difference was 110.8/1,000/month (95% CI 64.7, 156.8; p ConclusionsIn this study SMC for children under 10 years of age given over 5 months was feasible, well tolerated, and effective in preventing malaria episodes, and reduced the prevalence of parasitaemia and anaemia. SMC with CCM achieved high coverage and ensured children with malaria were promptly treated with artemether-lumefantrine.Trial registrationwww.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01449045.