The Uganda housing modification study - association between housing characteristics and malaria burden in a moderate to high transmission setting in Uganda.

Background: Scale up of proven malaria control interventions has not been sufficient to control malaria in Uganda, emphasizing the need to explore innovative new approaches. Improved housing is one such promising strategy. This paper describes housing characteristics and their association with malaria burden in a moderate to high transmission setting in Uganda.

Could Less Be More? Accounting for Fractional-Dose Regimens and Different Number of Vaccine Doses When Measuring the Impact of the RTS,S/AS01E Malaria Vaccine.

Background: The RTS,S/AS01E (RTS,S) malaria vaccine is recommended for children in malaria endemic areas. This phase 2b trial evaluates RTS,S fractional- and full-dose regimens in Ghana and Kenya.

Methods: In total, 1500 children aged 5-17 months were randomized (1:1:1:1:1) to receive RTS,S or rabies control vaccine.

Mass Relapse Prevention to Reduce Transmission of Plasmodium vivax- A Systematic Review.

Several temperate countries have used mass chemoprevention interventions with medicines of the 8-aminoquinoline class that prevent relapses from Plasmodium vivax before peak transmission to reduce transmission of malaria. The WHO commissioned a systematic review of the literature and evidence synthesis to inform development of recommendations regarding this intervention referred to as "mass relapse prevention" (MRP). Electronic databases were searched, 866 articles screened, and 25 assessed for eligibility after a full-text review.

Baseline malaria infection status and RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccine efficacy.

Background: The only licensed malaria vaccine, RTS,S/AS01 , confers moderate protection against symptomatic disease. Because many malaria infections are asymptomatic, we conducted a large-scale longitudinal parasite genotyping study of samples from a clinical trial exploring how vaccine dosing regimen affects vaccine efficacy (VE).

Methods: 1,500 children aged 5-17 months were randomized to receive four different RTS,S/AS01 regimens or a rabies control vaccine in a phase 2b clinical trial in Ghana and Kenya.

House modifications as a malaria control tool: how does local context shape participants' experience and interpretation in Uganda?

Background: Evidence that house design can provide protection from malaria is growing. Housing modifications such as screening windows, doors, and ceilings, and attaching insecticide-impregnated materials to the eaves (the gap between the top of the wall and bottom of the roof), can protect against malaria. To be effective at scale, however, these modifications must be adopted by household residents.

Plasmodium falciparum pfhrp2 and pfhrp3 Gene Deletions from Persons with Symptomatic Malaria Infection in Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, and Rwanda.

Histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2)-based rapid diagnostic tests detect Plasmodium falciparum malaria and are used throughout sub-Saharan Africa. However, deletions in the pfhrp2 and related pfhrp3 (pfhrp2/3) genes threaten use of these tests. Therapeutic efficacy studies (TESs) enroll persons with symptomatic P.

Effectiveness of in-service training plus the collaborative improvement strategy on the quality of routine malaria surveillance data: results of a pilot study in Kayunga District, Uganda.

Background: Surveillance data are essential for malaria control, but quality is often poor. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the novel combination of training plus an innovative quality improvement method-collaborative improvement (CI)-on the quality of malaria surveillance data in Uganda.

Methods: The intervention (training plus CI, or TCI), including brief in-service training and CI, was delivered in 5 health facilities (HFs) in Kayunga District from November 2015 to August 2016.

Opening the 'black box' of collaborative improvement: a qualitative evaluation of a pilot intervention to improve quality of malaria surveillance data in public health centres in Uganda.

Background: Demand for high-quality surveillance data for malaria, and other diseases, is greater than ever before. In Uganda, the primary source of malaria surveillance data is the Health Management Information System (HMIS). However, HMIS data may be incomplete, inaccurate or delayed.

Assessment of molecular markers of anti-malarial drug resistance among children participating in a therapeutic efficacy study in western Kenya.

Background: Anti-malarial drug resistance remains a major threat to global malaria control efforts. In Africa, Plasmodium falciparum remains susceptible to artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), but the emergence of resistant parasites in multiple countries in Southeast Asia and concerns over emergence and/or spread of resistant parasites in Africa warrants continuous monitoring. The World Health Organization recommends that surveillance for molecular markers of resistance be included within therapeutic efficacy studies (TES).

The tolerability of single low dose primaquine in glucose-6-phosphate deficient and normal falciparum-infected Cambodians.

Background: The WHO recommends single low-dose primaquine (SLDPQ, 0.25 mg/kg body weight) in falciparum-infected patients to block malaria transmission and contribute to eliminating multidrug resistant Plasmodium falciparum from the Greater Mekong Sub region (GMS). However, the anxiety regarding PQ-induced acute haemolytic anaemia in glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PDd) has hindered its use.

Penile coital injuries in men decline after circumcision: Results from a prospective study of recently circumcised and uncircumcised men in western Kenya.

Background: Penile coital injuries are one of the suggested mechanisms behind the increased risk of HIV among uncircumcised men. We evaluated the prevalence and correlates of self-reported penile coital injuries in a longitudinal community-based cohort of young (18-24 years old), newly circumcised and uncircumcised men in Western Kenya.

Methods: Self-reported penile coital injuries were assessed at baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months of follow-up, and were defined as scratches, cuts or abrasions during sex, penile soreness during sex, and skin of the penis bleeding during sex.

Medical Male Circumcision Is Associated With Improvements in Pain During Intercourse and Sexual Satisfaction in Kenya.

Background: Two cohort studies using data from randomized controlled trials in Africa offer the best evidence to date on the effects of voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) on male sexual function and satisfaction, suggesting no significant impairments in sexual function or satisfaction and some improvements in sexual function after male circumcision.

Aim: To assess the effects of VMMC on sexual function and satisfaction in a large population-based cohort of men circumcised as adults and uncircumcised controls in Kenya.

Methods: Sexual function and satisfaction of young (median age = 20 years) sexually active men (1,509 newly circumcised men and 1,524 age-matched uncircumcised controls after 5% loss to follow-up) were assessed at baseline and 6, 12, 18, and 24 months, with data collected in 2008 to 2012.

Risk compensation following male circumcision: results from a two-year prospective cohort study of recently circumcised and uncircumcised men in Nyanza Province, Kenya.

We present the results of the first study of longitudinal change in HIV-associated risk behaviors in men before and after circumcision in the context of a population-level voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) program. The behaviors of 1,588 newly circumcised men and 1,598 age-matched uncircumcised controls were assessed at baseline, 6, 12, 18 and 24 months of follow-up. Despite the precipitous decline in perception of high HIV risk among circumcised men (30-14 vs.

Measuring prevalence and correlates of concurrent sexual partnerships among young sexually active men in Kisumu, Kenya.

Our objectives were to: (1) compare multiple measures of partnership concurrency, including the UNAIDS-recommended definition and (2) describe the prevalence and correlates of concurrent sexual partnerships among young Kenyan men. We analyzed 10,907 lifetime partnerships of 1,368 men ages 18-24 years enrolled in a randomized trial of male circumcision to reduce HIV-1 incidence in Kisumu. Partnership concurrency was determined by overlapping dates and examined over varying recall periods and assumptions.

Spatial distribution and cluster analysis of sexual risk behaviors reported by young men in Kisumu, Kenya.

Background: The well-established connection between HIV risk behavior and place of residence points to the importance of geographic clustering in the potential transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI).

Methods: To investigate the geospatial distribution of prevalent sexually transmitted infections and sexual behaviors in a sample of 18-24 year-old sexually active men in urban and rural areas of Kisumu, Kenya, we mapped the residences of 649 men and conducted spatial cluster analysis. Spatial distribution of the study participants was assessed in terms of the demographic, behavioral, and sexual dysfunction variables, as well as laboratory diagnosed STIs.

Determinants of consistent condom use vary by partner type among young men in Kisumu, Kenya: a multi-level data analysis.

To evaluate whether determinants of consistent condom use vary by partner type among young sexually active Kenyan men, we conducted a cross-sectional assessment of lifetime sexual histories from a sub-sample of men enrolled in a clinical trial of male circumcision. 7913 partnerships of 1370 men were analyzed. 262 men (19%) reported never, 1018 (74%) sometimes and 92 (7%) always using a condom with their partners.