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Optimizing Malaria Treatment in the Community

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Optimizing Treatment for Children in the Developing World

Abstract

Over 200 million cases of malaria are reported annually to the WHO, including 627,000 deaths, mostly among children. These alarming figures persist although malaria is an entirely curable infection with currently available medications promptly deployed. Most malaria infections occur in resource-limited rural settings with poor access to medical care. Therefore, one of the primary challenges in optimizing antimalarial treatment is delivery of care to underserved communities. Alternative strategies to physician-guided, laboratory-assisted, diagnosis and treatment will be required in order to reach the large number of cases of uncomplicated malaria that arise in rural communities. The authors suggest that these challenges can be addressed with well-designed programs featuring training of community health workers, increased attention to supply management, and better community engagement. Models of integrated community case management, shown successful elsewhere, should be implemented in order to optimize antimalarial drug treatment for children in low-resource settings.

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Abbreviations

ACT:

Artemisinin combination therapy

CCM:

Community case management for malaria

CHWs:

Community health workers

HRP-2:

Histidine-rich protein-2

iCCM:

Integrated community case management

IMCI:

Integrated management of childhood illnesses

pLDH:

Parasite lactate dehydrogenase

RDTs:

Rapid diagnostic tests

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Michael Hawkes MD, PhD

  2. Toronto General Research Institute; Sandra Rotman Centre for Global Health, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Lena Serghides PhD

Authors
  1. Michael Hawkes MD, PhD
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  2. Lena Serghides PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Hawkes MD, PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Stuart MacLeod

  2. University of Melbourne Medical School, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Suzanne Hill

  3. Departments of Pediatrics and Pharmacology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Gideon Koren

  4. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Karolinska University, Hostpital Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Anders Rane

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Hawkes, M., Serghides, L. (2015). Optimizing Malaria Treatment in the Community. In: MacLeod, S., Hill, S., Koren, G., Rane, A. (eds) Optimizing Treatment for Children in the Developing World. Adis, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15750-4_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-15750-4_22

  • Publisher Name: Adis, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-15749-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-15750-4

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