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Abstract Background Early diagnosis, as well as prompt and effective treatment of uncomplicated malaria, are essential components of the anti-malaria strategy in Madagascar to prevent severe malaria, reduce mortality and limit malaria transmission. The purpose of this study was to assess the performance of the malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) used by community health workers (CHWs) by comparing RDT results with two reference methods (microscopy and Polymerase Chain Reaction, PCR). Methods Eight CHWs in two districts, each with a different level of endemic malaria transmission, were trained to use RDTs in the management of febrile children under five years of age. RDTs were performed by CHWs in all febrile children who consulted for fever. In parallel, retrospective parasitological diagnoses were made by microscopy and PCR. The results of these different diagnostic methods were analysed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the RDTs administered by the CHWs. The stability of the RDTs stored by CHWs was also evaluated. Results Among 190 febrile children with suspected malaria who visited CHWs between February 2009 and February 2010, 89.5% were found to be positive for malaria parasites by PCR, 51.6% were positive by microscopy and 55.8% were positive by RDT. The performance accuracy of the RDTs used by CHWs in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values was greater than 85%. Concordance between microscopy and RDT, estimated by the Kappa value was 0.83 (95% CI: 0.75-0.91). RDTs stored by CHWs for 24 months were capable of detecting Plasmodium falciparum in blood at a level of 200 parasites/μl. Conclusion Introduction of easy-to-use diagnostic tools, such as RDTs, at the community level appears to be an effective strategy for improving febrile patient management and for reducing excessive use of anti-malarial drugs.

Abstract Background Previous studies, conducted in the urban of Antananarivo, showed low rate of confirmed malaria cases. We used a geographical and environmental approach to investigate the contribution of environmental factors to urban malaria in Antananarivo. Methods Remote sensing data were used to locate rice fields, which were considered to be the principal mosquito breeding sites. We carried out supervised classification by the maximum likelihood method. Entomological study allowed vector species determination from collected larval and adult mosquitoes. Mosquito infectivity was studied, to assess the risk of transmission, and the type of mosquito breeding site was determined. Epidemiological data were collected from November 2006 to December 2007, from public health centres, to determine malaria incidence. Polymerase chain reaction was carried out on dried blood spots from patients, to detect cases of malaria. Rapid diagnostic tests were used to confirm malaria cases among febrile school children in a school survey. A geographical information system was constructed for data integration. Altitude, temperature, rainfall, population density and rice field surface area were analysed and the effects of these factors on the occurrence of confirmed malaria cases were studied. Results Polymerase chain reaction confirmed malaria in 5.1% of the presumed cases. Entomological studies showed An. arabiensis as potential vector. Rice fields remained to be the principal breeding sites. Travel report was considered as related to the occurrence of P. falciparum malaria cases. Conclusion Geographical and environmental factors did not show direct relationship with malaria incidence but they seem ensuring suitability of vector development. Absence of relationship may be due to a lack of statistical power. Despite the presence of An. arabiensis, scarce parasitic reservoir and rapid access to health care do not constitute optimal conditions to a threatening malaria transmission. However, imported malaria case is suggestive to sustain the pocket transmission in Antananarivo.

Abstract Background In order to improve the monitoring of the antimalarial drug resistance in Madagascar, a new national network based on eight sentinel sites was set up. In 2006/2007, a multi-site randomized clinical trial was designed to assess the therapeutic efficacy of chloroquine (CQ), sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), amodiaquine (AQ) and artesunate plus amodiaquine combination (ASAQ), the antimalarial therapies recommended by the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP). Methods Children between six months and 15 years of age, with uncomplicated falciparum malaria, were enrolled. Primary endpoints were the day-14 and day-28 risks of parasitological failure, either unadjusted or adjusted by genotyping. Risks of clinical and parasitological treatment failure after adjustment by genotyping were estimated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Secondary outcomes included fever clearance, parasite clearance, change in haemoglobin levels between Day 0 and the last day of follow-up, and the incidence of adverse events. Results A total of 1,347 of 1,434 patients (93.9%) completed treatment and follow-up to day 28. All treatment regimens, except for the chloroquine (CQ) treatment group, resulted in clinical cure rates above 97.6% by day-14 and 96.7% by day-28 (adjusted by genotyping). Parasite and fever clearance was more rapid with artesunate plus amodiaquine, but the extent of haematological recovery on day-28 did not differ significantly between the four groups. No severe side-effects were observed during the follow-up period. Conclusion These findings (i) constitute an up-dated baseline data on the efficacy of antimalarial drugs recommended by the NMCP, (ii) show that antimalarial drug resistance remains low in Madagascar, except for CQ, compared to the bordering countries in the Indian Ocean region such as the Comoros Archipelago and (iii) support the current policy of ASAQ as the first-line treatment in uncomplicated falciparum malaria.

Abstract Background Four of five Plasmodium species infecting humans are present in Madagascar. Plasmodium vivax remains the second most prevalent species, but is understudied. No data is available on its susceptibility to sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine, the drug recommended for intermittent preventive treatment during pregnancy. In this study, the prevalence of P. vivax infection and the polymorphisms in the pvdhfr and pvdhps genes were investigated. The correlation between these polymorphisms and clinical and parasitological responses was also investigated in P. vivax-infected patients. Methods Plasmodium vivax clinical isolates were collected in eight sentinel sites from the four major epidemiological areas for malaria across Madagascar in 2006/2007. Pvdhfr and pvdhps genes were sequenced for polymorphism analysis. The therapeutic efficacy of SP in P. vivax infections was assessed in Tsiroanomandidy, in the foothill of the central highlands. An intention-to-treat analysis of treatment outcome was carried out. Results A total of 159 P. vivax samples were sequenced in the pvdhfr/pvdhps genes. Mutant-types in pvdhfr gene were found in 71% of samples, and in pvdhps gene in 16% of samples. Six non-synonymous mutations were identified in pvdhfr, including two novel mutations at codons 21 and 130. For pvdhps, beside the known mutation at codon 383, a new one was found at codon 422. For the two genes, different combinations were ranged from wild-type to quadruple mutant-type. Among the 16 patients enrolled in the sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine clinical trial (28 days of follow-up) and after adjustment by genotyping, 3 (19%, 95% CI: 5%–43%) of them were classified as treatment failure and were pvdhfr 58R/117N double mutant carriers with or without the pvdhps 383G mutation. Conclusion This study highlights (i) that genotyping in the pvdhfr and pvdhps genes remains a useful tool to monitor the emergence and the spread of P. vivax sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine resistant in order to improve the national antimalarial drug policy, (ii) the issue of using sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine as a monotherapy for intermittent preventive treatment of pregnant women or children.