Effectiveness of Intermittent Preventive Treatment for Malaria in Children

Summary

Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in children (IPTc) is a promising new approach to malaria control. Preliminary studies of IPTc in Senegal and Mali indicate that this approach can be very effective. Although the results of these studies suggest that IPTc with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) plus artesunate (AS) or SP alone is an efficacious and safe intervention for reducing the burden of malaria and anaemia in children in high transmission areas with short transmission periods, there is no data from areas with long transmission periods. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of IPTc in reducing anaemia and malaria in an area with up to 6 months of transmission in Ghana. Two thousand two hundred forty children aged 3-59 months will be randomly allocated to four groups (560 per arm) to receive amodiaquine plus artesunate (AQ+AS), given at two different intervals (monthly or bimonthly), SP or placebo. The children will also be followed to determine if there is any rebound in the incidence of severe malaria and anaemia in the year following IPTc.

Timeline

Start

2005-06

Primary completion

2006-12

Completion

2006-12

Publications

• Patouillard E, Conteh L, Webster J, Kweku M, Chandramohan D, Greenwood B. Coverage, adherence and costs of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in children employing different delivery strategies in Jasikan, Ghana. PLoS One. 2011;6(11):e24871. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0024871. Epub 2011 Nov 3.
• Conteh L, Patouillard E, Kweku M, Legood R, Greenwood B, Chandramohan D. Cost effectiveness of seasonal intermittent preventive treatment using amodiaquine & artesunate or sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine in Ghanaian children. PLoS One. 2010 Aug 17;5(8):e12223. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0012223.
• Kweku M, Webster J, Adjuik M, Abudey S, Greenwood B, Chandramohan D. Options for the delivery of intermittent preventive treatment for malaria to children: a community randomised trial. PLoS One. 2009 Sep 30;4(9):e7256. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007256.
• Kweku M, Liu D, Adjuik M, Binka F, Seidu M, Greenwood B, Chandramohan D. Seasonal intermittent preventive treatment for the prevention of anaemia and malaria in Ghanaian children: a randomized, placebo controlled trial. PLoS One. 2008;3(12):e4000. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0004000. Epub 2008 Dec 22.

Drugs

Indications