Joaniter Nankabirwa

University

Faculty of Medicine and School of Public Health, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

PhD Title

School-based malaria control: Impact of Intermittent Preventive Treatment and anthleminthic treatment on malaria morbidity in Ugandan school children.

Abstract

Introduction:

Plasmodium and hookworm infections are some of the most prevalent parasitic infections among schoolchildren. The high occurrence of these infections means that co-infection with the two parasites is common. Infection with either parasite increases risk of anaemia and affects cognitive function in school children. It has been suggested that infection with helminths may alter an individual’s immune responses and therefore affect susceptibility/immunity to clinical malaria. However, the evidence remains equivocal and there is an important need for further work to investigate this relationship.

Methods:

We plan to conduct a 2x2 factorial randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled clinical trial to evaluate the impact of anti-helmintic treatment (de-worming), intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) and IPT + de-worming on risk of malaria morbidity in healthy schoolchildren in Tororo district. Results from this study will help inform the design of future integrated school malaria-helminth control programmes in this age group and resolve the debate surrounding the interactions between helminth infections and malaria.