Malaria Deaths Among Children in Zanzibar Significantly Decreased Since 2002, Study Says

Malaria-related deaths and health facility admissions among children in Zanzibar have dropped significantly since 2002 due in part to the introduction of improved malaria treatment and insecticide-treated nets, according to a study recently published in PLoS Medicine, Xinhua News Agency reports (Xinhua News Agency, 11/7). For the study, researchers from Britain, Italy, Tanzania, Sweden and the U.S. measured the number of malaria parasites in children younger than age 14 in the North A District in Zanzibar during May -- a seasonal peak for malaria -- in the years 2003, 2005 and 2006. They also examined local health records for malaria-related outpatient visits and health facility admissions between 2000 and 2005 and reviewed death records for the entire region during the same period (Bhattarai et al., PLoS Medicine, 11/7).

The researchers found that the number of malaria deaths and health facility admissions in 2005 dropped to one-quarter of the levels recorded in 2002. The study also showed that the proportion of children younger than age five with malaria parasites in their blood was half that of the 2003 levels, Xinhua News Agency reports (Xinhua News Agency, 11/7). The level decreased by an additional tenfold from 2005 to 2006, the study said (PloS Medicine, 11/7).

Researchers attributed the drop in deaths to improvements in malaria treatment and the use of ITNs. People in Zanzibar have had access to no-cost artemisinin-based combination therapies since late 2003, and children younger than age five and pregnant women have been given no-cost ITNs since early 2006, according to Xinhua News Agency. Zanzibar also has used the insecticide DDT for indoor residual spraying since 2006 to control the mosquito population (Xinhua News Agency, 11/7).


The study is available online.