Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan Africa
OBJECTIVE: To develop a decision-support tool to help policy-makers in sub-Saharan Africa assess whether intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi) would be effective for local malaria control. METHODS: An algorithm for predicting the effect of IPTi was developed using two approaches. First...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
The World Health Organization
|
| Series: | Bulletin of the World Health Organization |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862010001100009&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1797287679621070848 |
|---|---|
| author | Ilona Carneiro Lucy Smith Amanda Ross Arantxa Roca-Feltrer Brian Greenwood Joanna Armstrong Schellenberg Thomas Smith David Schellenberg |
| author_facet | Ilona Carneiro Lucy Smith Amanda Ross Arantxa Roca-Feltrer Brian Greenwood Joanna Armstrong Schellenberg Thomas Smith David Schellenberg |
| author_sort | Ilona Carneiro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | OBJECTIVE: To develop a decision-support tool to help policy-makers in sub-Saharan Africa assess whether intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi) would be effective for local malaria control. METHODS: An algorithm for predicting the effect of IPTi was developed using two approaches. First, study data on the age patterns of clinical cases of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, hospital admissions for infection with malaria parasites and malaria-associated death for different levels of malaria transmission intensity and seasonality were used to estimate the percentage of cases of these outcomes that would occur in children aged < 10 years targeted by IPTi. Second, a previously developed stochastic mathematical model of IPTi was used to predict the number of cases likely to be averted by implementing IPTi under different epidemiological conditions. The decision-support tool uses the data from these two approaches that are most relevant to the context specified by the user. FINDINGS: Findings from the two approaches indicated that the percentage of cases targeted by IPTi increases with the severity of the malaria outcome and with transmission intensity. The decision-support tool, available on the Internet, provides estimates of the percentage of malaria-associated deaths, hospitalizations and clinical cases that will be targeted by IPTi in a specified context and of the number of these outcomes that could be averted. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of IPTi varies with malaria transmission intensity and seasonality. Deciding where to implement IPTi must take into account the local epidemiology of malaria. The Internet-based decision-support tool described here predicts the likely effectiveness of IPTi under a wide range of epidemiological conditions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T18:37:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-05baa24056e342c7a1027d55eca90e3a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0042-9686 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T18:37:57Z |
| publisher | The World Health Organization |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Bulletin of the World Health Organization |
| spelling | doaj.art-05baa24056e342c7a1027d55eca90e3a2024-03-02T04:41:18ZengThe World Health OrganizationBulletin of the World Health Organization0042-9686881180781410.1590/S0042-96862010001100009S0042-96862010001100009Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan AfricaIlona Carneiro0Lucy Smith1Amanda Ross2Arantxa Roca-Feltrer3Brian Greenwood4Joanna Armstrong Schellenberg5Thomas Smith6David Schellenberg7London School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineSwiss Tropical InstituteLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineSwiss Tropical InstituteLondon School of Hygiene and Tropical MedicineOBJECTIVE: To develop a decision-support tool to help policy-makers in sub-Saharan Africa assess whether intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi) would be effective for local malaria control. METHODS: An algorithm for predicting the effect of IPTi was developed using two approaches. First, study data on the age patterns of clinical cases of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, hospital admissions for infection with malaria parasites and malaria-associated death for different levels of malaria transmission intensity and seasonality were used to estimate the percentage of cases of these outcomes that would occur in children aged < 10 years targeted by IPTi. Second, a previously developed stochastic mathematical model of IPTi was used to predict the number of cases likely to be averted by implementing IPTi under different epidemiological conditions. The decision-support tool uses the data from these two approaches that are most relevant to the context specified by the user. FINDINGS: Findings from the two approaches indicated that the percentage of cases targeted by IPTi increases with the severity of the malaria outcome and with transmission intensity. The decision-support tool, available on the Internet, provides estimates of the percentage of malaria-associated deaths, hospitalizations and clinical cases that will be targeted by IPTi in a specified context and of the number of these outcomes that could be averted. CONCLUSION: The effectiveness of IPTi varies with malaria transmission intensity and seasonality. Deciding where to implement IPTi must take into account the local epidemiology of malaria. The Internet-based decision-support tool described here predicts the likely effectiveness of IPTi under a wide range of epidemiological conditions.http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862010001100009&lng=en&tlng=en |
| spellingShingle | Ilona Carneiro Lucy Smith Amanda Ross Arantxa Roca-Feltrer Brian Greenwood Joanna Armstrong Schellenberg Thomas Smith David Schellenberg Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan Africa Bulletin of the World Health Organization |
| title | Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full | Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_fullStr | Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_short | Intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants: a decision-support tool for sub-Saharan Africa |
| title_sort | intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants a decision support tool for sub saharan africa |
| url | http://www.scielosp.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0042-96862010001100009&lng=en&tlng=en |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ilonacarneiro intermittentpreventivetreatmentformalariaininfantsadecisionsupporttoolforsubsaharanafrica AT lucysmith intermittentpreventivetreatmentformalariaininfantsadecisionsupporttoolforsubsaharanafrica AT amandaross intermittentpreventivetreatmentformalariaininfantsadecisionsupporttoolforsubsaharanafrica AT arantxarocafeltrer intermittentpreventivetreatmentformalariaininfantsadecisionsupporttoolforsubsaharanafrica AT briangreenwood intermittentpreventivetreatmentformalariaininfantsadecisionsupporttoolforsubsaharanafrica AT joannaarmstrongschellenberg intermittentpreventivetreatmentformalariaininfantsadecisionsupporttoolforsubsaharanafrica AT thomassmith intermittentpreventivetreatmentformalariaininfantsadecisionsupporttoolforsubsaharanafrica AT davidschellenberg intermittentpreventivetreatmentformalariaininfantsadecisionsupporttoolforsubsaharanafrica |