Individual and household characteristics of persons with Plasmodium falciparum malaria in sites with varying endemicities in Kinshasa Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo

Steven R. Meshnick,Margaret Carrel,Jonathan B. Parr,Kyaw L. Thwai,Lauren Levitz,Melchior Kashamuka Mwandagalirwa,Varun Goel,Antoinette Tshefu,Michael Emch,Mark Janko

doi:10.1186/s12936-017-2110-7

Abstract

BackgroundThe Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) bears a large share of global malaria burden despite efforts to control and eliminate the disease. More detailed understanding of individual and household level characteristics associated with malaria are needed, as is an understanding of how these characteristics vary spatiotemporally and across different community-level malaria endemicities. An ongoing study in Kinshasa Province is designed to address gaps in prior malaria surveillance in the DRC by monitoring malaria across seasons, age groups and in high and low malaria sites. Across seven sites, 242 households and 1591 individuals are participating in the study. Results of the enrollment questionnaire, rapid diagnostic tests and PCR testing of dried blood spots are presented.ResultsOverall malaria prevalence in the study cohort is high, 27% by rapid diagnostic test and 31% by polymerase chain reaction, and malaria prevalence is highly varied across very small geographic distances. Malaria prevalence is highest in children aged 6–15. While the majority of households own bed nets, bed net usage is less than 50%.ConclusionsThe study cohort will provide an understanding of how malaria persists in populations that have varying environmental exposures, varying community-level malaria, and varying access to malaria control efforts.

Highlights

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) bears a large share of global malaria burden despite efforts to control and eliminate the disease
Recent studies suggest that older children have high malaria burdens and may be an important malaria reservoir, but they are often excluded from surveys [11,12,13,14,15]
The national health surveillance database was used to calculate the prevalence of malaria in each health area from two selected health zones in Kinshasa Province, Maluku and Lingwala, for the year 2014

Summary

Introduction

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) bears a large share of global malaria burden despite efforts to control and eliminate the disease. An ongoing study in Kinshasa Province is designed to address gaps in prior malaria surveillance in the DRC by monitoring malaria across seasons, age groups and in high and low malaria sites. Despite recent advances in malaria control efforts, malaria remains a major health problem in sub-Saharan Africa countries; 90% of the world’s malaria cases in 2015 were in the African region of the World Health Organization (WHO) [1]. Recent studies suggest that older children (ages 5–15) have high malaria burdens and may be an important malaria reservoir, but they are often excluded from surveys [11,12,13,14,15]. Further work is needed to assess the contribution of different age groups to the reservoir

Methods

Results

Conclusion