Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Jan 22:12:27.
doi: 10.1186/1475-2875-12-27.

Declining malaria parasite prevalence and trends of asymptomatic parasitaemia in a seasonal transmission setting in North-Western Burkina Faso between 2000 and 2009-2012

Carolin Geiger  1 , Hani Kartini Agustar, Guillaume Compaoré, Boubacar Coulibaly, Ali Sié, Heiko Becher, Michael Lanzer, Thomas Jänisch
Affiliations

Declining malaria parasite prevalence and trends of asymptomatic parasitaemia in a seasonal transmission setting in North-Western Burkina Faso between 2000 and 2009-2012

Carolin Geiger et al. Malar J. .

Abstract

Background: Malaria transmission was reported to have declined in some East African countries. However, a comparable trend has not been confirmed for West Africa. This study aims to assess the dynamics of parasite prevalence and malaria species distribution over time in an area of highly seasonal transmission in Burkina Faso. The aim was also to compare frequency of asymptomatic parasitaemia between wet and dry season by parasite density status and age group.

Methods: During the years 2009-2012, six cross-sectional studies were performed in the rural village Bourasso in the Nouna Health District in north-west Burkina Faso. In subsequent rainy and dry seasons blood samples were collected to assess the parasite prevalence, species, density and clinical parameters. In total, 1,767 children and adults were examined and compared to a baseline collected in 2000.

Results: The microscopical parasite prevalence (mainly P. falciparum) measured over the rainy seasons decreased significantly from 78.9% (2000) to 58.4%, 55.9% and 49.3%, respectively (2009-2011; p <0.001). The frequency of Plasmodium malariae infections (mono- and co-infections) decreased parallel to the overall parasite prevalence from 13.4% in 2000 to 2.1%, 4.1% and 4.7% in 2009-2011 (p <0.001). Comparing parasite-positive subjects from the rainy season versus dry season, the risk of fever was significantly reduced in the dry season adjusting for parasite density (grouped) and age group.

Conclusions: The results of this study suggest a decline of malaria transmission over the rainy seasons between 2000 and 2009-2011 in the region of Nouna, Burkina Faso. The decreased transmission intensity was associated with lower prevalence of P. malariae infections (both mono-infections and co-infections). Asymptomatic parasitaemia was more frequent in the dry season even adjusting for parasite density and age group in a multivariate regression. Possible reasons for this observation include the existence of less pathogenic Plasmodium falciparum genotypes prevailing in the dry season, or the effect of a reduced incidence density during the dry season.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Parasite prevalence stratified by age group based on microscopy. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals. A) Rainy season - baseline parasite prevalence from the rainy season of the year 2000 compared to parasite prevalence of 2009–2011; B) Dry season - parasite prevalence from 2010–2012.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Plasmodium species distribution by year and season. Time is on the x-axis, where April represents a sampling at the end of the dry season and October a sampling at the end of the rain season of the respective year. The y-axis shows the proportion of positive samples by microscopy. On the z-axis the different Plasmodium species are listed including co-infections.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. WHO. World Malaria Report 2011. Geneva: WHO press; 2011.
    1. Sie A, Louis VR, Gbangou A, Muller O, Niamba L, Stieglbauer G, Ye M, Kouyate B, Sauerborn R, Becher H. The health and demographic surveillance system (HDSS) in Nouna, Burkina Faso, 1993–2007. Glob Health Action. 2010;3: . doi: 10.3402/gha.v3i0.5284. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Muller O, Becher H, van Zweeden AB, Ye Y, Diallo DA, Konate AT, Gbangou A, Kouyate B, Garenne M. Effect of zinc supplementation on malaria and other causes of morbidity in west African children: randomised double blind placebo controlled trial. BMJ. 2001;322:1567. doi: 10.1136/bmj.322.7302.1567. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Muller O, Traore C, Kouyate B, Ye Y, Frey C, Coulibaly B, Becher H. Effects of insecticide-treated bednets during early infancy in an African area of intense malaria transmission: a randomized controlled trial. Bull World Health Organ. 2006;84:120–126. doi: 10.2471/BLT.05.023150. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Louis VR, Bals J, Tiendrebeogo J, Bountogo M, Ramroth H, De Allegri M, Traore C, Beiersmann C, Coulibaly B, Yé M, Jahn A, Becher H, Müller O. Long-term effects of malaria prevention with insecticide-treated mosquito nets on morbidity and mortality in African children: randomised controlled trial. Trop Med Int Health. 2012;17:733–741. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2012.02990.x. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types