Seasonal malaria chemoprevention combined with community case management of malaria in children under 10 years of age, over 5 months, in south-east Senegal: A cluster-randomised trial.

Background: Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) is recommended in the Sahel region of Africa for children under 5 years of age, for up to 4 months of the year. It may be appropriate to include older children, and to provide protection for more than 4 months. We evaluated the effectiveness of SMC using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine given over 5 months to children under 10 years of age in Saraya district in south-east Senegal in 2011.

Randomized trial of piperaquine with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine or dihydroartemisinin for malaria intermittent preventive treatment in children.

Background: The long terminal half life of piperaquine makes it suitable for intermittent preventive treatment for malaria but no studies of its use for prevention have been done in Africa. We did a cluster randomized trial to determine whether piperaquine in combination with either dihydroartemisin (DHA) or sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is as effective, and better tolerated, than SP plus amodiaquine (AQ), when used for intermittent preventive treatment in children delivered by community health workers in a rural area of Senegal.

Methods: Treatments were delivered to children 3-59 months of age in their homes once per month during the transmission season by community health workers.