Evaluation of the Household-level Impact of a Single Round of Intermittent Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Schoolchildren: A Randomized Study

The most promising strategy to address the burden of malaria in school-aged children is intermittent preventive treatment with antimalarials (IPTsc). IPTsc has clearly been demonstrated to improve the health and educational attainment of schoolchildren. While the goal of IPTsc is improving the individual outcomes, reducing infections in schoolchildren, a primary reservoir for human-to-mosquito transmission may reduce overall transmission increasing the benefits and adding value to this intervention. In areas where the burden of malaria remains high despite implementation of currently available tools, IPTsc could act as a complimentary measure to reduce transmission incrementally while decreasing the burden of malaria in a vulnerable, high yield population. However, the benefits of IPTsc specifically targeting transmission reduction, have not widely been evaluated. We will evaluate impact of IPTsc with an antimalarial in schoolchildren on the malaria burden in household members in a high transmission area. The objective is to:

1. To determine the impact of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in schoolchildren on malaria transmission at the household, as measured by the prevalence of parasitaemia at the household level.
2. To determine the impact of intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in schoolchildren on the health of the children as measured by the prevalence of parasitaemia among the children.

Two primary schools will be randomly selected from the list of the schools in Busia district. The list will act as the sampling frame for the school selection. Following the identification of the two schools to participate in the study. The schools will be randomized to either intervention or control arm.

A single dose/round of IPT with DP (40mg/320mg tabs, Fosun Pharmaceuticals) will be given to the children in the intervention arm. The full dose will be given as oral tablets once a day for 3 consecutive days to all eligible children in the intervention school. The outcome is the prevalence of parasitemia in the schoolchildren and household members. To assess the impact of the intervention in schoolchildren, 216 children in the intervention school and 216 children in the control school will be randomly selected and assessed at baseline, 1 month and 3 months following the intervention. The same children will be assessed at the 3 school surveys. To assess the impact of the intervention on transmission at the household level, we will enroll 476 household members in the intervention arm and 476 household members in the control arm. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, 1 month and 3 months following the intervention.