Evaluation of Vector and Chemoprevention-based Interventions to Reduce Malaria Burden in Urban Daaras of Touba, Senegal

February 13, 2025 updated by: PATH
This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of adapted insecticide-treated mosquito nets combined with extended DHA-PQ-based seasonal chemoprevention for all ages and behavior change communication in reducing the burden of malaria in relation to standards of protection and care among students (taalibés) in the daaras (Koranic schools) of Touba, Senegal.

Study Overview

Status

Suspended

Conditions

Detailed Description

In Senegal, young children (mostly boys) may be sent to religious schools (daaras) to learn about the Koran and moral and cultural values. The students (talibés) often live and sleep in crowded conditions and as a result, insecticide-treated net (ITN) use is consistently low due to challenges faced in hanging ITNs as well as difficulty covering multiple children sleeping together. This study will consist of a two-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention package in urban daaras in Touba City, Diourbel region, Senegal.

The intervention package will include vector control through meganets (multiple insecticide-treated mosquito nets sewn together and adapted based on the needs and sleeping situation of the daara), seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) extended to all ages using DHA-PQ, and behavior change communication.

Prior to evaluating an intervention, there will be 1) a mapping of the daaras in Touba City, Diourbel Region of Senegal to observe the various structures and types of daaras in order to select typical daaras for the entomological component, and to inform randomization, 2) human behavior observation (HBO) of students (talibes) and teachers (marabouts) in 2-3 daaras selected through the mapping to help tailor the intervention package, and 3) analysis of mosquito behavior observed through human landing catches.

Two cross-sectional surveys will be conducted, before and after the intervention, which will include an electronic questionnaire to be sent to the taalibés themselves or to their guardians, a temperature reading, an RDT for participants with a fever at the time of the survey, and a fingertip blood sample to assess parasite prevalence (microscopy and PCR). Qualitative surveys will be carried out using a mixed-method design, consisting of a literature review, in-depth individual interviews, focus groups, and on-site observations. Meganet monitoring surveys will be carried out after meganet distribution to assess the attrition and physical integrity of the nets.

Malaria incidence will be determined from records of community health workers assigned to the daaras who have been trained by the Ministry of Health to identify febrile students, test them for malaria using a rapid diagnostic test and treat confirmed cases with an antimalarial medicine. Additional data on students who seek care from health centers in their neighborhood will supplement the data obtained from community health workers.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

4600

Phase

  • Phase 4

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

      • Touba, Senegal
        • Daaras in Touba

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

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion criteria for daara:

  • Located within the catchment area of Touba Health District
  • Located within the catchment area of a health facility with an annual malaria incidence of ≥ 25 cases per 1000 population
  • Daara is registered in the health system and the Serigne daara (i.e., daara leader) can provide caregiver consent for taalibé.
  • Taalibé population between 29 to 120
  • PECAdaara model has been integrated and fully operational
  • Willingness of daara leader to participate in the study

Inclusion criteria for receiving DHA-PQ:

  • Age ≥ 3 months
  • Taalibé of study daara
  • Willingness to comply with study procedures
  • Provision of informed consent/assent

Additional inclusion criteria for receiving meganets:

- Sleeping in a superimposed area with ≥ 2 people

Exclusion Criteria for receiving DHA-PQ:

  • Age < 3 months
  • Refusal of informed consent
  • Concomitant or recent use of antimalarials within the past two weeks
  • Known allergy or hypersensitivity to DHA-PQ
  • Confirmed diagnosis of clinical malaria
  • Currently taking anti-worm or anti-infection drugs, including cotrimoxazole (BACTRIM), mebendazole, quinolones, sulfonamides (FANSIDAR, MALOXINE), dapsone, colchicine
  • Currently taking medications that influence cardiac function or prolong the QTc interval
  • Serious or chronic illness, including known HIV infection, heart disease, or severe malnutrition (weight-for-age or mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) < 3 SD)
  • Pregnancy (assessed by history or urine pregnancy test)

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention clusters

will receive the following interventions:

  1. Distribution of meganets, defined as conventional insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) sewn together to adapt to taalibés sleeping conditions
  2. Three monthly cycles of targeted chemoprevention with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DHA-PQ) for all daara residents, regardless of resident age
  3. Social behavior change (SBC) to promote intervention uptake
Intervention package will include vector control through meganets (multiple insecticide-treated mosquito nets sewn together), seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) extended to all ages using DHA-PQ, and behavior change communication.
No Intervention: Control clusters

will receive standard-of-care malaria interventions, which include:

  1. Distribution of conventional ITNs
  2. Three monthly cycles of SMC with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine- amodiaquine (SP-AQ) given to children 3-120 months

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Difference in cumulative incidence of clinical malaria confirmed by rapid diagnostic test (RDT) between arms
Time Frame: monthly basis over 12 months
Cumulative incidence will be defined as the number of RDT-confirmed malaria cases per 1000 population in each daara. Cases will be identified from both PECAdaara and health facility registries
monthly basis over 12 months
Difference in pre-post change in prevalence of PCR-confirmed infection between arms
Time Frame: 12 months
Prevalence will be defined as the proportion of individuals with PCR-confirmed infection, assessed during cross-sectional surveys
12 months
Difference in change in prevalence of microscopy-confirmed infection between arms
Time Frame: 12 months
Prevalence will be defined as the proportion of individuals with microscopy-confirmed infection assessed during the endline survey
12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Difference in the cumulative incidence of serious adverse events (SAE) after SMC administration between arms
Time Frame: 12 months
Adverse events will be classified as serious or non-serious based on standardized AE grading scale
12 months
Difference in human behavior on net use before and after ITN/meganet distribution
Time Frame: 12 months
ITN use (e.g., sleeping under net in the previous night, sleeping indoors versus outdoors) will be assessed during cross-sectional surveys
12 months
Difference in indoor and outdoor adjusted human biting rates between arms
Time Frame: 12 months
The human landing rate will be used as a proxy for the human biting rate (HBR). The HBR data will be integrated with the human behavior observation (HBO) data on net use and sleep patterns data by calculating the hourly adjusted HBR.
12 months
Difference in Anopheles biting trends between arms
Time Frame: 12 months
Anopheles biting trends will be examined by measuring the Anopheles biting times (including peak biting time), biting locations (indoors and outdoors), and vector density (defined as mean number of bites received by one person in one night) during human landing catches
12 months
Acceptability of intervention package
Time Frame: 12 months
Perceptions of intervention package and reasons for participation assessed through qualitative studies conducted throughout the study period
12 months
Difference in proportion of refusals between arms
Time Frame: 12 months
Refusals will be defined as the number of those who refused a specific intervention divided by the number of participants who were targeted and eligible to receive the specific intervention (i.e., chemoprevention and meganets).
12 months
Cost per malaria case averted
Time Frame: 12 months
Total intervention costs will be calculated in both arms and compared with efficacy measures of malaria incidence to generate the incremental cost effectiveness ratio.
12 months
Difference in cumulative incidence of grade 3+ adverse events after drug administration between arms
Time Frame: 12 months
Defined as the number of grade 3+ AEs divided by the participant population who received at least one dose of drug.
12 months
Difference in distribution coverage of chemoprevention strategies between arms
Time Frame: 12 months
Distribution coverage will be defined as the number of persons who received intervention divided by number of those targeted and eligible
12 months
Difference in crude coverage of chemoprevention strategies between arms
Time Frame: 12 months
Crude coverage will be defined using WHO criteria as number of persons who received the intervention divided by number of those who were targeted (regardless of eligibility)
12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Jean Louis Ndiaye, L'université de Thiès

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 (Actual)

January 19, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 23, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 8, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 17, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

January 25, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 13, 2025

Last Verified

February 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RES-00634

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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