Intermittent Parasite Clearance (IPC) in Schools: Impact on Malaria, Anaemia and Cognition

April 18, 2012 updated by: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Intermittent Parasite Clearance (IPC) in Schools: a Randomised Double-blind Placebo-controlled Trial of the Impact of IPC on Malaria, Anaemia and Cognition Amongst School Children in Kedougou, Senegal

Although the risk of malaria is greatest in early childhood, significant numbers of schoolchildren remain at risk from malaria infection, clinical illness and death. By the time they reach school, many children have already acquired some clinical immunity and the ability to limit parasite growth, and thus most infections are asymptomatic and will go undetected and untreated. Asymptomatic parasitaemia contributes to anaemia, reducing concentration and learning in the classroom, and interventions aiming to reduce asymptomatic parasite carriage may bring education, as well as health, benefits.

Intermittent parasite clearance (IPC) delivered through schools is a simple intervention, which can be readily integrated into broader school health programmes, and may usefully supplement the community-distribution of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) in countries with a policy of universal coverage of nets.

This study seeks to establish whether intermittent parasite clearance undertaken once a year at the end of the malaria transmission season can reduce malaria parasite carriage and anaemia amongst school-going children already using insecticide-treated nets, and its consequent impact on school attendance and performance, in order to assess its suitability for inclusion as a standard intervention in school health programmes in areas of seasonal malaria transmission.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

860

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Senegal
      • Dakar, Senegal
        • Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

7 years to 14 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • enrolled in participating elementary schooled
  • provision of parental consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • lack of consent
  • chronic conditions which limit regular school attendance
  • clinical malaria on the day of scheduled treatment (as defined as febrile, with a positive result in a rapid diagnostic test for malaria).

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Intermittent parasite clearance
Children sleeping under a long-lasting insecticidal net (LLIN) receive an additional intermittent preventive treatment for clearance of asymptomatic malaria infection given once a year at the end of the malaria transmission season
Drug: Intermittent parasite clearance
Sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (500/25mg) according to age, given on day 1; Amodiaquine (200mg) according to age, given daily for 3 days
Placebo Comparator: Control
Children sleeping under a long-lasting insecticidal net (LLIN) receive placebo
Other: Placebo
Placebo tablets, similar in appearance and taste to active treatment, given daily over 3 days

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Prevalence of malaria parasitaemia
Time Frame: 8 weeks after treatment (February 2012)
8 weeks after treatment (February 2012)
Prevalence of anaemia (Haemoglobin<11 g/dL)
Time Frame: 8 weeks after treatment (February 2012)
8 weeks after treatment (February 2012)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Cognitive performance in tests of sustained attention
Time Frame: 8 weeks after treatment (February 2012)
8 weeks after treatment (February 2012)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Collaborators

Harvard University
Cheikh Anta Diop University, Senegal
Ministry of Health, Senegal
Division Controle Medicale Scolaire, Ministry of Education, Senegal
Institut National d'Etude et d'Action pour le Developpement de l'Education, Senegal
Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, Senegal

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Sian E Clarke, PhD, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

November 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2012

Study Completion (Actual)

February 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 12, 2011

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 17, 2011

First Posted (Estimate)

October 19, 2011

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

April 19, 2012

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 18, 2012

Last Verified

April 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • WT-Clarke-Sen2011

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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