One hundred malaria attacks since birth. A longitudinal study of African children and young adults exposed to high malaria transmission

Jean-François Trape (1) , Nafissatou Diagne (2) , Fatoumata Diene-Sarr (3) , Joseph Faye (3) , Fambaye Dieye-Ba (2) , Hubert Bassène (2) , Abdoulaye Badiane (3) , Charles Bouganali (2) , Adama Tall (3) , Ramatoulaye Ndiaye (3) , Souleymane Doucouré (2) , Amélé Nyedzie Wotodjo (2) , Inès Vigan-Womas (3, 4) , Micheline Guillotte-Blisnick (4) , Cheikh Talla (3) , Makhtar Niang (3) , Aissatou Touré-Baldé (3) , Ronald Perraut (3, 4) , Christian Roussilhon (3, 5) , Pierre Druilhe (5) , Christophe Rogier (3, 6) , Odile Mercereau-Puijalon (4) , Cheikh Loucoubar (3) , Cheikh Sokhna (2)

1 MIVEGEC - Maladies infectieuses et vecteurs : écologie, génétique, évolution et contrôle
2 VITROME - Vecteurs - Infections tropicales et méditerranéennes
3 Institut Pasteur de Dakar
4 Département Parasites et Insectes vecteurs - Department of Parasites and Insect Vectors
5 Parasitologie Biomédicale
6 Primum Vitare

Background: Despite significant progress in malaria control over the past twenty years, malaria remains a leading cause of child morbidity and mortality in Tropical Africa. As most patients do not consult any health facility much uncertainty persists about the true burden of the disease and the range of individual differences in susceptibility to malaria. Methods: Over a 25-years period, from 1990 to 2015, the inhabitants of Dielmo village, Senegal, an area of intense malaria transmission, have been monitored daily for their presence in the village and the occurrence of diseases. In case of fever thick blood films were systematically examined through microscopy for malaria parasites and patients received prompt diagnosis and treatment. Findings: We analysed data collected in 111 children and young adults monitored for at least 10 years (mean 17.3 years, maximum 25 years) enrolled either at birth (95 persons) or during the two first years of life. A total of 11,599 episodes of fever were documented, including 5268 malaria attacks. The maximum number of malaria attacks in a single person was 112. Three other persons suffered one hundred or more malaria attacks during follow-up. The minimum number of malaria attacks in a single person was 11. The mean numbers of malaria attacks in children reaching their 4th, 7th, and 10th birthdays were 23.0, 37.7, and 43.6 attacks since birth, respectively. Sixteen children (14.4%) suffered ten or more malaria attacks each year at ages 1–3 years, and six children (5.4%) each year at age 4–6 years. Interpretation: Long-term close monitoring shows that in highly endemic areas the malaria burden is higher than expected. Susceptibility to the disease may vary up to 10-fold, and for most children childhood is an endless history of malaria fever episodes. No other parasitic, bacterial or viral infection in human populations has such an impact on health.

Mots clés: Epidemiology; Immunology; Cohort study; Longitudinal study; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium malariae; Plasmodium ovale; Children; Infants; Senegal; Malaria; Africa; Morbidity

Domaines: Maladies infectieuses; Pédiatrie; Santé publique et épidémiologie

Jean-François Trape, Nafissatou Diagne, Fatoumata Diene-Sarr, Joseph Faye, Fambaye Dieye-Ba, et al.. One hundred malaria attacks since birth. A longitudinal study of African children and young adults exposed to high malaria transmission. EClinicalMedicine, 2024, 67, pp.102379. ⟨10.1016/j.eclinm.2023.102379⟩. ⟨hal-04509902⟩