World Health Organization, 2017. World Malaria Report 2017. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.
World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme, 2015. Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016–2030. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.
World Health Organization, 2009. WHO Country Cooperation Strategy 2008–2013: Malawi. Brazzaville, Republic of Congo: WHO Regional Office for Africa.
Government of Malawi Ministry of Health, 2013. Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria in Malawi, 4th edition. Lilongwe, Malawi: National Malaria Control Programme, Community Health Sciences Unit.
Malawi Ministry of Health, 2009. Malawi Standard Treatment Guidelines, 4th edition. Lilongwe, Malawi: Malawi Ministry of Health.
Ewing VL, Lalloo DG, Phiri KS, Roca-Feltrer A, Mangham LJ, SanJoaquin MA, 2011. Seasonal and geographic differences in treatment-seeking and household cost of febrile illness among children in Malawi. Malar J 10: 32.
Galactionova K, Tediosi F, De Savigny D, Smith T, Tanner M, 2015. Effective coverage and systems effectiveness for malaria case management in sub-Saharan African countries. PLoS One 10: e0127818.
Johansson EW, Gething PW, Hildenwall H, Mappin B, Petzold M, Peterson SS, Selling KE, 2014. Diagnostic testing of pediatric fevers: meta-analysis of 13 national surveys assessing influences of malaria endemicity and source of care on test uptake for febrile children under five years. PLoS One 9: e95483.
Walldorf JA et al. 2015. School-age children are a reservoir of malaria infection in Malawi. PLoS One 10: e0134061.
Buchwald A et al. 2016. Bed net use among school-aged children after a universal bed net campaign in Malawi. Malar J 15: 127.
Coalson JE, Cohee LM, Buchwald AG, Nyambalo A, Kubale J, Seydel KB, Mathanga D, Taylor TE, Laufer MK, Wilson ML, 2018. Simulation models predict that school-age children are responsible for most human-to-mosquito P. falciparum transmission in southern Malawi. Malar J 17: 147.
Molyneux CS, Mung’ala-Odera V, Harpham T, Snow RW, 1999. Maternal responses to childhood fevers: a comparison of rural and urban residents in coastal Kenya. Trop Med Int Health 4: 836–845.
Mujica Mota RE, Lara AM, Kunkwenzu ED, Lalloo DG, 2009. Health seeking behavior after fever onset in a malaria-endemic area of Malawi. Am J Trop Med Hyg 81: 935–943.
Chuma J, Okungu V, Molyneux C, 2010. Barriers to prompt and effective malaria treatment among the poorest population in Kenya. Malar J 9: 144.
Vialle-Valentin CE, LeCates RF, Zhang F, Ross-Degnan D, 2015. Treatment of febrile illness with artemisinin combination therapy: prevalence and predictors in five African household surveys. J Pharm Policy Pract 8: 1.
Guyatt HL, Snow RW, 2004. The management of fevers in Kenyan children and adults in an area of seasonal malaria transmission. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 98: 111–115.
Roll Back Malaria Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group, World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, MEASURE DHS, MEASURE Evaluation, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005. Malaria Indicator Survey: Basic Documentation for Survey Design and Implementation. Calverton, MD: World Health Organization.
Harris PA, Taylor R, Thielke R, Payne J, Gonzalez N, Conde JG, 2009. Research electronic data capture (REDCap)—a metadata driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatict support. J Biomed Inform 42: 377–381.
Filmer D, Pritchett L, 2001. Estimating wealth effects without expenditure data—or tears: an application to educational enrollments in states of India. Demography 38: 115–132.
Geldsetzer P, Williams TC, Kirolos A, Mitchell S, Ratcliffe LA, Kohli-Lynch MK, Bischoff EJ, Cameron S, Campbell H, 2014. The recognition of and care seeking behaviour for childhood illness in developing countries: a systematic review. PLoS One 9: e93427.
Holtz TH, Kachur SP, Marum LH, Mkandala C, Chizani N, Roberts JM, Macheso A, Parise ME, 2003. Care seeking behaviour and treatment of febrile illness in children aged less than five years: a household survey in Blantyre District, Malawi. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 97: 491–497.
Kazembe LN, Appleton CC, Kleinschmidt I, 2007. Choice of treatment for fever at household level in Malawi: examining spatial patterns. Malar J 6: 40.
Oyekale AS, 2015. Assessment of Malawian mothers’ malaria knowledge, healthcare preferences and timeliness of seeking fever treatments for children under five. Int J Environ Res Public Health 12: 521–540.
Weil A, 2003. Home management of fever in children in Zomba, Malawi. Malawi Med J 15: 95–98.
Coalson JE et al. 2016. High prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte infections in school-age children using sensitive molecular detection: patterns and predictors of risk from a cross-sectional study in southern Malawi. Malar J 15: 527.
Chen I, Clarke SE, Gosling R, Hamainza B, Killeen G, Magill A, O’Meara W, Price RN, Riley EM, 2016. “Asymptomatic” malaria: a chronic and debilitating infection that should be treated. PLoS Med 13: e1001942.
Lindblade KA, Steinhardt L, Samuels A, Kachur SP, Slutsker L, 2013. The silent threat: asymptomatic parasitemia and malaria transmission. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther 11: 623–639.
Nankabirwa J, Brooker SJ, Clarke SE, Fernando D, Gitonga CW, Schellenberg D, Greenwood B, 2014. Malaria in school-age children in Africa: an increasingly important challenge. Trop Med Int Health 19: 1294–1309.
Gonçalves BP et al. 2017. Examining the human infectious reservoir for Plasmodium falciparum malaria in areas of differing transmission intensity. Nat Commun 8: 1133.
Jeffery GM, Eyles DE, 1954. The duration in the human host of infections with a Panama strain of Plasmodium falciparum. Am J Trop Med Hyg 3: 219–224.
Abdel-Wahab A, Ali E, Suleiman S, Ahmed S, Walliker D, Babiker HA, 2002. Dynamics of gametocytes among Plasmodium falciparum clones in natural infections in an area of highly seasonal transmission. J Infect Dis 185: 1838–1842.
Nassir E, Abdel-Muhsin AM, Suliaman S, Kenyon F, Kheir A, Geha H, Ferguson HM, Walliker D, Babiker HA, 2005. Impact of genetic complexity on longevity and gametocytogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum during the dry and transmission-free season of eastern Sudan. Int J Parasitol 35: 49–55.
Chuma J, Abuya T, Memusi D, Juma E, Akhwale W, Ntwiga J, Nyandigisi A, Tetteh G, Shretta R, Amin A, 2009. Reviewing the literature on access to prompt and effective malaria treatment in Kenya: implications for meeting the Abuja targets. Malar J 8: 243.
Namuyinga RJ et al. 2017. Health worker adherence to malaria treatment guidelines at outpatient health facilities in southern Malawi following implementation of universal access to diagnostic testing. Malar J 16: 1–14.
Opiyo N, Yamey G, Garner P, 2016. Subsidising artemisinin-based combination therapy in the private retail sector. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 3: CD009926.
Sabot OJ, Mwita A, Cohen JM, Ipuge Y, Gordon M, Bishop D, Odhiambo M, Ward L, Goodman C, 2009. Piloting the global subsidy: the impact of subsidized artemisinin-based combination therapies distributed through private drug shops in rural Tanzania. PLoS One 4: e6857.
Rutta E et al. 2011. Increasing access to subsidized artemisinin-based combination therapy through accredited drug dispensing outlets in Tanzania. Health Res Policy Syst 9: 22.
Morris A, Ward A, Moonen B, Sabot O, Cohen JM, 2015. Price subsidies increase the use of private sector ACTs: evidence from a systematic review. Health Policy Plan 30: 397–405.
Mbonye AK, Magnussen P, Lal S, Hansen KS, Cundill B, Chandler C, Clarke SE, 2015. A cluster randomised trial introducing rapid diagnostic tests into registered drug shops in Uganda: impact on appropriate treatment of malaria. PLoS One 10: e0129545.
Cohen JL, Yadav P, Moucheraud C, Alphs S, Larson PS, Arkedis J, Massaga J, Sabot O, 2013. Do price subsidies on artemisinin combination therapy for malaria increase household use? Evidence from a repeated cross-sectional study in remote regions of Tanzania. PLoS One 8: 1–10.
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Prompt and effective treatment is key to malaria control and prevention, as it reduces disease morbidity and mortality and minimizes the number of transmission reservoirs. Transmission reduction may be particularly important among school-age children (SAC, 5–15 years old), who have the highest prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum infection in southern Malawi. We hypothesized that one factor contributing to this difference in prevalence is that SAC are less likely to seek appropriate treatment for fever than children younger than 5 years. In this study, we assessed treatment-seeking behaviors of people of all ages between 2012 and 2014 in Malawi. During each of the five cross-sectional surveys, all members of ∼900 households reported on fever and treatment-seeking in the previous 2 weeks. Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze predictors of whether febrile people sought treatment and whether they did so at formal (government/private clinics) or informal sources (primarily shops). Twenty-two percent of participants (3,579/16,621) reported fever, and 2,715 of those (75.9%) sought treatment. Seeking treatment exclusively from local shops remains a common practice, although use of recommended diagnostic testing and antimalarial drugs was infrequently reported there. Although SAC were not significantly less likely than children aged < 5 years to seek treatment, SAC and adults (age ≥ 16 years) were significantly less likely to use formal sources. Our results indicate that encouraging treatment at government/private clinics and increasing retail access to appropriate antimalarial testing and treatment, especially among SAC, could help remedy inadequate treatment of symptomatic disease and potentially reduce Plasmodium transmission in Malawi.
Financial support: This work was supported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) [U19AI089683] and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) [K12 GM000708] at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Authors’ addresses: Jenna E. Coalson, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, E-mail: jcoalson@gmail.com. Lauren M. Cohee, Jenny A. Walldorf, and Miriam K. Laufer, Division of Malaria Research, Institute for Global Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, E-mails: cohee@som.umaryland.edu, jwalldorf@cdc.gov, and mlaufer@som.umaryland.edu. Andrew Bauleni and Don P. Mathanga, Malaria Alert Center, University of Malawi College of Medicine, Blantyre, Malawi, E-mails: abauleni@mac.medcol.mw and dmathang@mac.medcol.mw. Terrie E. Taylor, Department of Osteopathic Medical Specialties, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, E-mail: ttmalawi@msu.edu. Mark L. Wilson, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, E-mail: wilsonml@umich.edu.
World Health Organization, 2017. World Malaria Report 2017. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.
World Health Organization Global Malaria Programme, 2015. Global Technical Strategy for Malaria 2016–2030. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO.
World Health Organization, 2009. WHO Country Cooperation Strategy 2008–2013: Malawi. Brazzaville, Republic of Congo: WHO Regional Office for Africa.
Government of Malawi Ministry of Health, 2013. Guidelines for the Treatment of Malaria in Malawi, 4th edition. Lilongwe, Malawi: National Malaria Control Programme, Community Health Sciences Unit.
Malawi Ministry of Health, 2009. Malawi Standard Treatment Guidelines, 4th edition. Lilongwe, Malawi: Malawi Ministry of Health.
Ewing VL, Lalloo DG, Phiri KS, Roca-Feltrer A, Mangham LJ, SanJoaquin MA, 2011. Seasonal and geographic differences in treatment-seeking and household cost of febrile illness among children in Malawi. Malar J 10: 32.
Galactionova K, Tediosi F, De Savigny D, Smith T, Tanner M, 2015. Effective coverage and systems effectiveness for malaria case management in sub-Saharan African countries. PLoS One 10: e0127818.
Johansson EW, Gething PW, Hildenwall H, Mappin B, Petzold M, Peterson SS, Selling KE, 2014. Diagnostic testing of pediatric fevers: meta-analysis of 13 national surveys assessing influences of malaria endemicity and source of care on test uptake for febrile children under five years. PLoS One 9: e95483.
Walldorf JA et al. 2015. School-age children are a reservoir of malaria infection in Malawi. PLoS One 10: e0134061.
Buchwald A et al. 2016. Bed net use among school-aged children after a universal bed net campaign in Malawi. Malar J 15: 127.
Coalson JE, Cohee LM, Buchwald AG, Nyambalo A, Kubale J, Seydel KB, Mathanga D, Taylor TE, Laufer MK, Wilson ML, 2018. Simulation models predict that school-age children are responsible for most human-to-mosquito P. falciparum transmission in southern Malawi. Malar J 17: 147.
Molyneux CS, Mung’ala-Odera V, Harpham T, Snow RW, 1999. Maternal responses to childhood fevers: a comparison of rural and urban residents in coastal Kenya. Trop Med Int Health 4: 836–845.
Mujica Mota RE, Lara AM, Kunkwenzu ED, Lalloo DG, 2009. Health seeking behavior after fever onset in a malaria-endemic area of Malawi. Am J Trop Med Hyg 81: 935–943.
Chuma J, Okungu V, Molyneux C, 2010. Barriers to prompt and effective malaria treatment among the poorest population in Kenya. Malar J 9: 144.
Vialle-Valentin CE, LeCates RF, Zhang F, Ross-Degnan D, 2015. Treatment of febrile illness with artemisinin combination therapy: prevalence and predictors in five African household surveys. J Pharm Policy Pract 8: 1.
Guyatt HL, Snow RW, 2004. The management of fevers in Kenyan children and adults in an area of seasonal malaria transmission. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 98: 111–115.
Roll Back Malaria Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group, World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, MEASURE DHS, MEASURE Evaluation, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005. Malaria Indicator Survey: Basic Documentation for Survey Design and Implementation. Calverton, MD: World Health Organization.
Harris PA, Taylor R, Thielke R, Payne J, Gonzalez N, Conde JG, 2009. Research electronic data capture (REDCap)—a metadata driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatict support. J Biomed Inform 42: 377–381.
Filmer D, Pritchett L, 2001. Estimating wealth effects without expenditure data—or tears: an application to educational enrollments in states of India. Demography 38: 115–132.
Geldsetzer P, Williams TC, Kirolos A, Mitchell S, Ratcliffe LA, Kohli-Lynch MK, Bischoff EJ, Cameron S, Campbell H, 2014. The recognition of and care seeking behaviour for childhood illness in developing countries: a systematic review. PLoS One 9: e93427.
Holtz TH, Kachur SP, Marum LH, Mkandala C, Chizani N, Roberts JM, Macheso A, Parise ME, 2003. Care seeking behaviour and treatment of febrile illness in children aged less than five years: a household survey in Blantyre District, Malawi. Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 97: 491–497.
Kazembe LN, Appleton CC, Kleinschmidt I, 2007. Choice of treatment for fever at household level in Malawi: examining spatial patterns. Malar J 6: 40.
Oyekale AS, 2015. Assessment of Malawian mothers’ malaria knowledge, healthcare preferences and timeliness of seeking fever treatments for children under five. Int J Environ Res Public Health 12: 521–540.
Weil A, 2003. Home management of fever in children in Zomba, Malawi. Malawi Med J 15: 95–98.
Coalson JE et al. 2016. High prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte infections in school-age children using sensitive molecular detection: patterns and predictors of risk from a cross-sectional study in southern Malawi. Malar J 15: 527.
Chen I, Clarke SE, Gosling R, Hamainza B, Killeen G, Magill A, O’Meara W, Price RN, Riley EM, 2016. “Asymptomatic” malaria: a chronic and debilitating infection that should be treated. PLoS Med 13: e1001942.
Lindblade KA, Steinhardt L, Samuels A, Kachur SP, Slutsker L, 2013. The silent threat: asymptomatic parasitemia and malaria transmission. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther 11: 623–639.
Nankabirwa J, Brooker SJ, Clarke SE, Fernando D, Gitonga CW, Schellenberg D, Greenwood B, 2014. Malaria in school-age children in Africa: an increasingly important challenge. Trop Med Int Health 19: 1294–1309.
Gonçalves BP et al. 2017. Examining the human infectious reservoir for Plasmodium falciparum malaria in areas of differing transmission intensity. Nat Commun 8: 1133.
Jeffery GM, Eyles DE, 1954. The duration in the human host of infections with a Panama strain of Plasmodium falciparum. Am J Trop Med Hyg 3: 219–224.
Abdel-Wahab A, Ali E, Suleiman S, Ahmed S, Walliker D, Babiker HA, 2002. Dynamics of gametocytes among Plasmodium falciparum clones in natural infections in an area of highly seasonal transmission. J Infect Dis 185: 1838–1842.
Nassir E, Abdel-Muhsin AM, Suliaman S, Kenyon F, Kheir A, Geha H, Ferguson HM, Walliker D, Babiker HA, 2005. Impact of genetic complexity on longevity and gametocytogenesis of Plasmodium falciparum during the dry and transmission-free season of eastern Sudan. Int J Parasitol 35: 49–55.
Chuma J, Abuya T, Memusi D, Juma E, Akhwale W, Ntwiga J, Nyandigisi A, Tetteh G, Shretta R, Amin A, 2009. Reviewing the literature on access to prompt and effective malaria treatment in Kenya: implications for meeting the Abuja targets. Malar J 8: 243.
Namuyinga RJ et al. 2017. Health worker adherence to malaria treatment guidelines at outpatient health facilities in southern Malawi following implementation of universal access to diagnostic testing. Malar J 16: 1–14.
Opiyo N, Yamey G, Garner P, 2016. Subsidising artemisinin-based combination therapy in the private retail sector. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 3: CD009926.
Sabot OJ, Mwita A, Cohen JM, Ipuge Y, Gordon M, Bishop D, Odhiambo M, Ward L, Goodman C, 2009. Piloting the global subsidy: the impact of subsidized artemisinin-based combination therapies distributed through private drug shops in rural Tanzania. PLoS One 4: e6857.
Rutta E et al. 2011. Increasing access to subsidized artemisinin-based combination therapy through accredited drug dispensing outlets in Tanzania. Health Res Policy Syst 9: 22.
Morris A, Ward A, Moonen B, Sabot O, Cohen JM, 2015. Price subsidies increase the use of private sector ACTs: evidence from a systematic review. Health Policy Plan 30: 397–405.
Mbonye AK, Magnussen P, Lal S, Hansen KS, Cundill B, Chandler C, Clarke SE, 2015. A cluster randomised trial introducing rapid diagnostic tests into registered drug shops in Uganda: impact on appropriate treatment of malaria. PLoS One 10: e0129545.
Cohen JL, Yadav P, Moucheraud C, Alphs S, Larson PS, Arkedis J, Massaga J, Sabot O, 2013. Do price subsidies on artemisinin combination therapy for malaria increase household use? Evidence from a repeated cross-sectional study in remote regions of Tanzania. PLoS One 8: 1–10.
Past two years | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
---|---|---|---|
Abstract Views | 45 | 44 | 12 |
Full Text Views | 678 | 118 | 0 |
PDF Downloads | 221 | 33 | 0 |