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Review of intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in infants and children

Sally Munday1

  • 1Anton Breinl Centre, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. marcia.croucher@jcu.edu.au

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
|May 31, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi) offers a promising new strategy to combat malaria in children. This approach involves regular antimalarial drug administration to reduce illness frequency and support natural immunity development.

Area of Science:

  • Global Health
  • Pediatric Infectious Diseases
  • Parasitology

Background:

  • Malaria remains a leading cause of child mortality globally.
  • Current malaria treatments face challenges including cost, access, and growing drug resistance.
  • Infant interventions are crucial for long-term malaria control.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the potential of intermittent preventive treatment in infants (IPTi) for malaria prevention.
  • To assess IPTi's role in reducing malaria incidence while fostering natural immunity.
  • To review existing literature on IPTi and other infant malaria prevention methods.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review conducted in July 2006.
  • Focused on studies related to IPTi and personal malaria prevention in infants and children.
  • Analysis of treatment efficacy regardless of parasitaemia.

Main Results:

  • IPTi involves administering antimalarial drugs at intervals during the first year of life.
  • The strategy aims to decrease malaria illness frequency.
  • Early studies indicate promising results for IPTi.

Conclusions:

  • IPTi shows potential as a public health intervention for malaria prevention in infants.
  • Further research is needed to determine IPTi's optimal role and safe implementation.
  • Integration with routine childhood immunization schedules is a key strength of IPTi.

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