A malaria control trial using insecticide-treated bed nets and targeted chemoprophylaxis in a rural area of The Gambia West Africa 2 Mortality and morbidity from malaria in the study area

Background data on child mortality and morbidity from malaria were obtained in a new study area in the centre of The Gambia, south of the river, chosen as the site for a malaria intervention trial. Infant and child mortality rates were 120 and 41 per 1000 respectively. Results obtained using post-mortem questionnaires suggested that malaria was an uncommon cause of death in children under the age of one year but responsible for about 40% of deaths in children aged 1–4 years. Ninety-two percent of deaths attributed to malaria occurred during or immediately after the rainy season. Parasite and spleen rates in children aged 1–5 years at the end of the malaria transmission season were 66% and 64% respectively. Malariometric indices were similar in primary health care (PHC) villages, selected as sites for an intervention with insecticide-treated bed nets and targeted chemoprophylaxis, and in smaller, non-PHC, control villages. © 1993 Oxford University Press.