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Background data on child mortality and morbidity from malaria were obtained in a new study area in the centre of The Gambia, south of the river, chosen as the site for a malaria intervention trial. Infant and child mortality rates were 120 and 41 per 1000 respectively. Results obtained using post-mortem questionnaires suggested that malaria was an uncommon cause of death in children under the age of one year but responsible for about 40% of deaths in children aged 1-4 years. Ninety-two percent of deaths attributed to malaria occurred during or immediately after the rainy season. Parasite and spleen rates in children aged 1-5 years at the end of the malaria transmission season were 66% and 64% respectively. Malariometric indices were similar in primary health care (PHC) villages, selected as sites for an intervention with insecticide-treated bed nets and targeted chemoprophylaxis, and in smaller, non-PHC, control villages.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/0035-9203(93)90170-u

Type

Journal article

Journal

Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Publication Date

06/1993

Volume

87 Suppl 2

Pages

13 - 17

Addresses

Medical Research Council Laboratories, Fajara, Banjul, The Gambia.

Keywords

Humans, Malaria, Morbidity, Prevalence, Cause of Death, Seasons, Child, Preschool, Infant, Rural Health, Gambia