Childhood malaria in the Lao People's Democratic Republic

The idea that malaria in South-East Asia is synonymous with adult malaria is questioned in this paper. In the Lao People's Democratic Republic, community-based malariometric data were collected in Savannakhet Province, which shares borders with Viet Nam in the east and Thailand in the west. The data indicate that endemic malaria is rural and stable in large areas of the province. In these areas, which are rarely subject to malaria control, there is significant childhood malaria. A little more than one-quarter of individuals examined in mass blood surveys carried out in the peak malaria season were parasite-positive. Unlike other studies in the region reporting a declining risk of positive parasitaemia with age, thus suggesting immunity consistent with high and prolonged exposure to malaria, the communities studied in the Lao People's Democratic Republic did not show the expected acquisition of immunity. Further community-based studies on this matter are therefore warranted.