A malaria control trial using insecticide-treated bed nets and targeted chemoprophylaxis in a rural area of The Gambia, west Africa. 2. Mortality and morbidity from malaria in the study area.
Background data on child mortality and morbidity from malaria were obtained in a new study area in the centre of The Gambia, south of the river, chosen as the site for a malaria intervention trial. Infant and child mortality rates were 120 and 41 per 1000 respectively. Results obtained using post-mortem questionnaires suggested that malaria was an uncommon cause of death in children under the age of one year but responsible for about 40% of deaths in children aged 1-4 years. Ninety-two percent of deaths attributed to malaria occurred during or immediately after the rainy season. Parasite and spleen rates in children aged 1-5 years at the end of the malaria transmission season were 66% and 64% respectively. Malariometric indices were similar in primary health care (PHC) villages, selected as sites for an intervention with insecticide-treated bed nets and targeted chemoprophylaxis, and in smaller, non-PHC, control villages.
Alonso
P L
PL
Medical Research Council Laboratories, Fajara, Banjul, The Gambia.
Lindsay
S W
SW
Armstrong Schellenberg
J R
JR
Gomez
P
P
Hill
A G
AG
David
P H
PH
Fegan
G
G
Cham
K
K
Greenwood
B M
BM
D002423:Cause of Death; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005714:Gambia / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008288:Malaria / Q000401:mortality*; D009017:Morbidity; D015995:Prevalence; D012423:Rural Health; D012621:Seasons