Gloria Nseng

Serological Markers Suggest Heterogeneity of Effectiveness of Malaria Control Interventions on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea

Background In order to control and eliminate malaria, areas of on-going transmission need to be identified and targeted for malaria control interventions. Immediately following intense interventions, malaria transmission can become more heterogeneous if interventions are more successful in some areas than others. Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, has been subject to comprehensive malaria control interventions since 2004. This has resulted in substantial reductions in the parasite burden, although this drop has not been uniform across the island. Methods/Principal Findings In 2008, filter paper blood samples were collected from 7387 people in a cross-sectional study incorporating 18 sentinel sites across Bioko, Equatorial Guinea. Antibodies were measured to P. falciparum Apical Membrane Antigen-1 (AMA-1) by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Age-specific seropositivity rates were used to estimate seroconversion rates (SCR). Analysis indicated there had been at least a 60% decline in SCR in four out of five regions on the island. Changes in SCR showed a high degree of congruence with changes in parasite rate (PR) and with regional reductions in all cause child mortality. The mean age adjusted concentration of anti-AMA-1 antibodies was mapped to identify areas where individual antibody responses were higher than expected. This approach confirmed the North West of the island as a major focus of continuing infection and an area where control interventions need to be concentrated or re-evaluated. Conclusion/Interpretation Both SCR and PR revealed heterogeneity in malaria transmission and demonstrated the variable effectiveness of malaria control measures. This work confirms the utility of serological analysis as an adjunct measure for monitoring transmission. Age-specific seroprevalence based evidence of changes in transmission over time will be of particular value when no baseline data are available. Importantly, SCR data provide additional evidence to link malaria control activities to contemporaneous reductions in all-cause child mortality.

Increased risks of malaria due to limited residual life of insecticide and outdoor biting versus protection by combined use of nets and indoor residual spraying on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea.

BackgroundMalaria is endemic on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, with year-round transmission. In 2004 an intensive malaria control strategy primarily based on indoor residual spraying (IRS) was launched. The limited residual life of IRS poses particular challenges in a setting with year-round transmission, such as Bioko. Recent reports of outdoor biting by Anopheles gambiae are an additional cause for concern. In this study, the effect of the short residual life of bendiocarb insecticide and of children spending time outdoors at night, on malaria infection prevalence was examined.MethodsData from the 2011 annual malaria indicator survey and from standard WHO cone bioassays were used to examine the relationship between time since IRS, mosquito mortality and prevalence of infection in children. How often children spend time outside at night and the association of this behaviour with malaria infection were also examined.ResultsPrevalence of malaria infection in two to 14 year-olds in 2011 was 18.4%, 21.0% and 28.1% in communities with median time since IRS of three, four and five months respectively. After adjusting for confounders, each extra month since IRS corresponded to an odds ratio (OR) of 1.44 (95% CI 1.15–1.81) for infection prevalence in two to 14 year-olds. Mosquito mortality was 100%, 96%, 81% and 78%, at month 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively after spraying. Only 4.1% of children spent time outside the night before the survey between the hours of 22.00 and 06.00 and those who did were not at a higher risk of infection (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.50–1.54). Sleeping under a mosquito net provided additive protection (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.54–0.86).ConclusionsThe results demonstrate the epidemiological impact of reduced mosquito mortality with time since IRS. The study underscores that in settings of year-round transmission there is a compelling need for longer-lasting IRS insecticides, but that in the interim, high coverage of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) may ameliorate the loss of effect of current shorter-lasting IRS insecticides. Moreover, continued use of IRS and LLINs for indoor-oriented vector control is warranted given that there is no evidence that spending time outdoors at night increases infection prevalence in children.

Determinants of bed net use in children under five and household bed net ownership on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea

BackgroundAs part of comprehensive malaria control strategies, the Bioko Island Malaria Control Project (BIMCP) distributed 110,000 long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLIN) in late 2007 with the aim of providing one net for each sleeping area. Despite attaining initially very high levels of net coverage and net use, many children under five years of age did not sleep under a net by 2009, according to annual malaria indicator surveys. The aim of this study was to assess the determinants of bed net use in children under five and bed net ownership of the households in which they live.MethodsUsing data from annual cross-sectional household surveys of 2008 and 2009, we investigated factors associated with sleeping under a mosquito net the night prior to the survey, and a households owning at least one net, in all households which had at least one child under five years. Amongst others, caregivers knowledge of malaria and household characteristics including a socio-economic score (SES), based on ownership of household assets, were analysed for their effect on net ownership and use.ResultsThere was a decline of around 32% in the proportion of households that owned at least one net between 2008 and 2009. Higher household bed net ownership was associated with knowing how malaria was prevented and transmitted, having the house sprayed in the previous 12 months, having fewer children under five in the household, and children being sick at some point in the previous 14 days. Higher bed net use in children < 5 was associated with being sick at some point in the last 14 days prior to the survey, living in an urban area, more years of education of the head of the household, household ownership of at least one ITN (as opposed to an untreated net) and the year in which the survey took place.ConclusionsThe big fall in bed net use from 2008 to 2009 was attributable to the striking decline in ownership. Although ownership was similar in rural and urban areas, rural households were less likely to protect their children with bed nets. Knowledge about malaria was an important determinant of bed net ownership. Further research is needed to elucidate the decline in bed net ownership between 2008 and 2009.

Rural-Urban Differences in Household Treatment-Seeking Behaviour for Suspected Malaria in Children at Bata District, Equatorial Guinea.

Background Malaria remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality among children under five years old in Equatorial Guinea. However, little is known about the community management of malaria and treatment-seeking patterns. We aimed to assess symptoms of children with reported malaria and treatment-seeking behaviour of their caretakers in rural and urban areas in the Bata District. Methodology A cross-sectional study was conducted in the district of Bata and 440 houses were selected from 18 rural villages and 26 urban neighbourhoods. Differences between rural and urban caregivers and children with reported malaria were assessed through the chi-squared test for independence of categorical variables and the t-Student or the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test for normally or not-normally distributed continuous variables, respectively. Results Differences between rural and urban households were observed in caregiver treatment-seeking patterns. Fever was the main symptom associated with malaria in both areas. Malaria was treated first at home, particularly in rural areas. The second step was to seek treatment outside the home, mainly at hospital and Health Centre for rural households and at hospital and private clinic for urban ones. Artemether monotherapy was the antimalarial treatment prescribed most often. Households waited for more than 24 hours before seeking treatment outside and delays were longest in rural areas. The total cost of treatment was higher in urban than in rural areas in Bata. Conclusions The delays in seeking treatment, the type of malaria therapy received and the cost of treatment are the principal problems found in Bata District. Important steps for reducing malaria morbidity and mortality in this area are to provide sufficient supplies of effective antimalarial drugs and to improve malaria treatment skills in households and in both public and private sectors.

Accuracy of an Immunochromatographic Diagnostic Test (ICT Malaria Combo Cassette Test) Compared to Microscopy among under Five-Year-Old Children when Diagnosing Malaria in Equatorial Guinea

Conventional malaria diagnosis based on microscopy raises serious difficulties in weak health systems. Cost-effective and sensitive rapid diagnostic tests have been recently proposed as alternatives to microscopy. In Equatorial Guinea, a study was conducted to assess the reliability of a rapid diagnostic test compared to microscopy. The study was designed in accordance with the directives of the Standards for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Initiative (STARD). Peripheral thick and thin films for the microscopy diagnosis and a rapid immunochromatographic test (ICT Malaria Combo Cassette Test) were performed on under five-year-old children with malaria suspicion. The ICT test detected Plasmodium spp. infection with a sensitivity of 81.5% and a specificity of 81.9% while P. falciparum diagnosis occurred with a sensitivity of 69.7% and a specificity of 73.7%. The sensitivity of the ICT test increased with higher parasitemias. The general results showed little concordance between the ICT test and microscopy (kappa = 0.28, se: 0.04). In Equatorial Guinea, the ICT Malaria Combo Cassette Test has proven to be an acceptable test to detect high P. falciparum parasitemias. However, the decrease of sensitivity at medium and low parasitemias hampers that ICT can replace properly performed microscopy at present in the diagnosis of malaria in children.

Transmission of malaria and genotypic variability of Plasmodium falciparum on the island of Annobon (Equatorial Guinea).

BackgroundMalaria transmission in Equatorial Guinea and its space-time variability has been widely studied, but there is not much information about the transmission of malaria on the small island of Annobon. In 2004, two transversal studies were carried out to establish the malaria transmission pattern on Annobon and analyse the circulating Plasmodium falciparum allelic forms.MethodsA blood sample was taken from the selected children in order to determine Plasmodium infection by microscopical examination and by semi-nested multiplex PCR. The diversity of P. falciparum circulating alleles was studied on the basis of the genes encoding for the merozoite surface proteins, MSP-1 and MSP-2 of P. falciparum.ResultsThe crude parasite rate was 17% during the dry season and 60% during the rainy season. The percentage of children sleeping under a bed net was over 80% in the two surveys. During the rainy season, 33.3% of the children surveyed were anaemic at the time of the study. No association was found between the crude parasite rate, the use of bed nets and gender, and anaemia. However, children between five and nine years of age were five times less at risk of being anaemic than those aged less than one year. A total of 28 populations of the three allelic families of the msp-1 gene were identified and 39 of the msp-2 gene. The variability of circulating allelic populations is significantly higher in the rainy than in the dry season, although the multiplicity of infections is similar in both, 2.2 and 1.9 respectively.ConclusionBased on the high degree of geographical isolation of the Annobon population and the apparent marked seasonality of the transmission, it is feasible to believe that malaria can be well controlled from this small African island.

Prevalence of anemia and associated factors in children living in urban and rural settings from Bata District, Equatorial Guinea, 2013

Anemia in children under 5 years of age is a global public health problem. According to the World Health Organization the current rate of anemia among preschool aged children in Equatorial Guinea is 66%. No information is available above this age. The cross-sectional Prevamal Survey was conducted in 2013 aimed at providing baseline data on malaria prevalence in children aged 2 months-15 years old. Sampling was carried out with the use of a multistage, stratified cluster strategy in the district of Bata, Equatorial Guinea. The χ2 test and adjusted Poisson regression models were applied to assess the association between social-demographic and economic factors, malaria and anemia. A total of 1436 children were tested, out of which 1,421 children (99%) were tested for anemia. Over 85% were anemic; out of them, 284 (24%), 815 (67%) and 111 (9%) children had mild, moderate and severe anemia, respectively. Severe anemia was more frequent among children aged 2–12 months old and those living in rural sites. About 47% tested positive for malaria via a rapid diagnostic test (RDT). This rate was significantly higher in rural villages (66%; p<0.001). The prevalence of anemia and malaria was higher in rural settings (p<0.001). On the other hand, anemia in urban areas displayed a heterogeneity and complexity that differed from the rural environment: in urban neighbourhoods, children with concomitant malaria infection were more likely to be anemic (adjusted prevalence rate (aPR):1.19; CI 95%: 1.12–1.28). Moreover, the prevalence of anemia was higher in children aged above 13 months compared to younger children (p<0.005). Belonging to the poorest wealth tertile were positively (aPR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.05–1.24) and children’ parents being employees (aPR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.76–0.96) or self-employed (aPR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.76–0.97) vs. working in agriculture and/or fishing negatively associated with anemia among urban children. This marked urban-rural variation indicates the importance of targeting specific areas or districts. Strategies aimed at reducing malaria are clearly paramount in this country. Prevention and treatment of other factors associated with the etiology of anemia (e.g., iron deficiency) are also likely necessary to combat the burden of anemia in Equatorial Guinea.

Malaria Household Knowledge and Behavior in Equatorial Guinea:Lessons to Be Learned

Background: Malaria continues to be a major public health problem in Equatorial Guinea, despite the control efforts made since 1990s. Upcoming control interventions should incorporate the behavioral and social aspects of malaria, for which is essential to have base-line and context-specific information. Methods: A retrospective study was carried out to analyze the major outcomes of three cross-sectional surveys on malaria-related knowledge and behavior, conducted in Equatorial Guinea in 1996, 2001 and 2007. Results were described using frequencies, and major outcomes were compared between regions through logistic regression analysis adjusting by socio-economic and individual-related factors. Results: The knowledge towards malaria was overall better in 2001 than in 1996 in rural Bioko, and the attitudes and practices concerning malaria treatment and prevention were more correct in Bioko Island than in mainland Equatorial Guinea in 2001. Results in the 2007 survey, showed limited knowledge but appropriate practices related to the management of children with clinical malaria in Bata. Conclusion: Equatorial Guinea is a small but heterogenic country, with population showing distinct perception of malaria and its public health impact across regions. National malaria control strategies should have this diversity into account and sensitization campaigns should be tailored to context-specific misconceptions and different epidemiological patterns identified.

Correction: Socio-Economic Differentials in Impoverishment Effects of Out-of-Pocket Health Expenditure in China and India: Evidence from WHO SAGE

There is an error in affiliation 3 for author Santosh Kumar. Affiliation 3 should be: Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, United States of America.