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CompletedNCT00322816Updated Feb 1, 2019

Malaria Prevalence in Children

An observational study in Plasmodium Falciparum Malaria, sponsored by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Completed at 1 site in Gambia. Open to participants aged 6 Months to 10 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2019-02-01.

Sponsored by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) · Observational

Study type
Observational
Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
2,552
Ages
6 Months to 10 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this pilot study is to evaluate the use of (1) 'malaria prevalence', (2) 'malaria incidence' and (3) 'malaria mortality' as a measure of malaria transmission in The Gambia, while mosquito insecticides (larvicides) are used to control malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Two thousand children aged 6 months to 10 years of age will be recruited from villages in the study area. They will be monitored over 7 months for the presence of malaria parasites and signs and symptoms of the disease.

Read the detailed description

Malaria remains one of the world's greatest childhood killers and is a substantial obstacle to social and economic development in the tropics. The overwhelming bulk of the world's malaria burden rests upon the population of sub-Saharan Africa because of the unique coincidence of expanding human populations, weak health systems, the world's most effective vector mosquito species and environmental conditions ideal for transmission. At the start of the new millennium malaria is still deeply entrenched in Africa and effective malaria control is under threat from the inexorable spread of parasite strains resistant to antimalarial drugs and the emergence of mosquitoes resistant to the pyrethroid insecticides used to impregnate bednets. Larval control may offer a new alternative for effective control. We plan to apply a larvicide in an effort to control malaria and reduce the burden of malaria. While it is abundantly clear that this product will kill mosquito larvae in the laboratory and in the field, it is not certain that doing so will reduce the burden of malaria for the human population. There are several steps which intervene between the survival of mosquito larvae in aquatic breeding sites and the human end points that we hope to achieve. Briefly, the steps involved include survival and development of immature mosquito stages, emergence of adult mosquitoes, blood feeding by those mosquitoes, acquisition and development of malaria parasites by adult mosquitoes and transmission of parasites to susceptible humans. Once infected, the human population may either clear the infection over time or go on to develop symptoms. Among those who develop symptoms, some receive prompt and successful treatment, while some others go on to either develop chronic symptoms or to progress through severe malaria to death. Primary outcomes are: 1) the proportion of subjects with malaria parasites (Plasmodium Falciparum), 2) the incidence of clinical malaria, and 3) the age-standardized overall and malaria-specific mortality. Secondary outcomes are: 1) prevalence of a clinical episode of malaria (presence of malaria parasites plus an axillary temperature of 37.5 C or greater during examination or a history of fever during the last 48 hours); 2) prevalence of high parasitemias (defined as equal to of greater than 5000 parasites per mcl); 3) prevalence of enlarged spleen (defined using Hackett's classification); and 4) prevalence of severe anemia (defined as hemoglobin less than or equal to 5 g/dl). Within a broad area of eastern Gambia, zones have been identified for application of larvicide, with matched control zones where no larval control have been applied. In each area, the human population will be monitored to determine whether one of four specific malariometric end points will provide a valid assessment of larvicidal effectiveness. In this study 2000 children, 6 months to 10 years of age, will be recruited. These pilot studies will inform subsequent (not included in this NIH project) large scale evaluations of larviciding for malaria control. This protocol is designed to determine whether prevalence and incidence of malaria attacks and deaths can be used to evaluate the impact of Bti for malaria transmission control.

02

Conditions studied

  • Plasmodium Falciparum Malaria

Keywords

  • Malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, Gambia, larvicides
03

In context

Malaria, Falciparum

455 studies on the registry are indexed under Malaria, Falciparum; 37 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 2,552 is above the median of 561 across 63 observational studies indexed under Malaria, Falciparum.

Browse Malaria, Falciparum studies →

Lead sponsor

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is the lead sponsor of 2,446 studies on the registry; 179 are open to participants now.

Of its 405 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 302 (75%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
6 Months to 10 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

All children living in the defined areas for intervention and between the age of 6 months and 10 years will be invited to participate. No distinctions will be made regarding gender or ethnic group. Moreover, as the target population is all people living in the areas of intervention, and in order of the results from this study to be as generalizable as possible, no distinctions will be made in terms of medical condition or physical health. Moreover, we believe that any children with a medical condition would be especially favored by the participation in the study.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

None

05

Study design

Time perspective
Prospective
Enrollment
2,552 participants (actual)
06

Study locations

1 site
  • Medical Research Council's Laboratories
    Fajara, Gambia
07

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
Not marked actual or estimatedDates not marked actual or estimated

The record gives a start of Jun 2006, a primary completion of Mar 2008 and a completion of Mar 2009. It does not say whether these dates are actual or estimated.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
May 4, 2006
First posted
May 8, 2006
Start
Jun 7, 2006
Primary completionActual
Mar 31, 2008
CompletionActual
Mar 31, 2009
Last update
Feb 1, 2019
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 1, 2019, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
08

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00322816
First posted
May 8, 2006
Start date
Jun 7, 2006
Primary completion
Mar 31, 2008
Completion
Mar 31, 2009
Last update
Feb 1, 2019
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Nov 2011. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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