Malaria treatment in the retail sector: knowledge and practices of drug sellers in rural Tanzania (Publications)
of Kilombero and Ulanga, Tanzania, we interviewed 489 shopkeepers about their knowledge of malaria and malaria treatment. A complementary mystery shoppers study was conducted in 118 retail outlets in order [...] general shops. RESULTS: Shopkeepers in drug stores were able to name more malaria symptoms and were more knowledgeable about malaria treatment than their peers in general shops. In drug stores, 52% mentioned [...] case. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of malaria case-management in the retail...
Microbial larvicide application by a large-scale, community-based program reduces malaria infection prevalence in urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Publications)
BACKGROUND: Malaria control in Africa is most tractable in urban settlements yet most research has focused on rural settings. Elimination of malaria transmission from urban areas may require larval control [...] managed, delivery systems in urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Continuous, randomized cluster sampling of malaria infection prevalence and non-random programmatic surveillance of entomological inoculation rate (EIR) [...] = 0.001) when 45% (9/20) of directly observed transmission events...
Effectiveness of combined intermittent preventive treatment for children and timely home treatment for malaria control (Publications)
awaiting for the arrival of an effective and affordable malaria vaccine, there is a need to make use of the available control tools to reduce malaria risk, especially in children under five years and pregnant [...] important component of the malaria control strategy. This study explored the potential of a strategy of intermittent preventive treatment for children (IPTC) and timely treatment of malaria-related febrile illness [...] of febrile malaria illness, impacts significantly on the parasite...
Improvements in access to malaria treatment in Tanzania following community, retail sector and health facility interventions - a user perspective (Publications)
Treatment-seeking and awareness of malaria was already high at baseline, but various improvements were seen between 2004 and 2008, namely: better understanding causes of malaria (from 62% to 84%); an increase [...] approach aimed at improving understanding and treatment of malaria has led to tangible improvements in terms of people's actions for the treatment of malaria. However, progress was hindered by the low availability [...] BACKGROUND: The ACCESS programme aims at understanding and...
Improvements in access to malaria treatment in Tanzania after switch to artemisinin combination therapy and the introduction of accredited drug... (Publications)
Dispensing Outlets (ADDO) was created in Tanzania. Tanzania changed its first-line treatment for malaria from sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) to artemether-lumefantrine (ALu) in 2007. Subsidized ALu was [...] made available in both health facilities and ADDOs. The effect of these interventions on access to malaria treatment was studied in rural Tanzania. METHODS: The study was carried out in the villages of Kilombero [...] outlets. The data were complemented with DSS population data. RESULTS:...
Models for short term malaria prediction in Sri Lanka (Publications)
time series of district malaria cases for their ability to predict the number of malaria cases one to four months ahead. The addition of covariates such as the number of malaria cases in neighbouring districts [...] monitored/diagnosed malaria cases allows for the study of forecasting models, with an aim to developing a forecasting system which could assist in the efficient allocation of resources for malaria control. METHODS: [...] BACKGROUND: Malaria in Sri Lanka is unstable and fluctuates in...
MalHaploFreq: a computer programme for estimating malaria haplotype frequencies from blood samples (Publications)
are important surveillance tools that can inform policy choice. People infected with falciparum malaria often contain several genetically-distinct clones of the parasite; genotyping the patients' blood [...] present (i.e. its prevalence), but does not reveal its frequency. For example a person with four malaria clones may contain both mutant and wildtype forms of a marker but it is not possible to distinguish
Efficacy and safety of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for treatment of <em>Plasmodium vivax</em> malaria in endemic countries: meta-analysis of... (Publications)
the efficacy of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHP) in treating uncomplicated Plasmodium vivax malaria in people living in endemic countries. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: This is a meta-analysis [...] Findings document that DHP is more efficacious than CQ and AL in treating uncomplicated P. vivax malaria. The better safety profile of DHP and the once-daily dosage improves adherence, and its fixed co [...] the potential to become an alternative antimalarial drug for the treatment...