Uganda

The human infectious reservoir for malaria consists of individuals capable of infecting mosquitoes. Oocyst prevalence and density are typical indicators of human infectivity to mosquitoes. However, identification of oocysts is challenging, particularly in areas of low malaria transmission intensity where few individuals may infect mosquitoes, and infected mosquitoes tend to have few oocysts. Here, features that differentiate oocysts from other oocyst-like in mosquito midguts are explained and illustrated. In addition, the establishment and maintenance of infrastructure to perform malaria transmission experiments is described. This work may support other initiatives to set up membrane feeding infrastructure and guide oocyst detection in low transmission settings.

The Uganda National Malaria Control Programme recognizes the importance of minimizing the effect of malaria among pregnant women. Accordingly, strategies including intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy using sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-SP) have been scaled up. Uptake of IPTp-SP among pregnant women in Uganda, aged 15–49 years who had had a live birth 2 years preceding the 2016 Uganda Demographic and Health Survey (UDHS) was determined and factors associated with the uptake of optimal IPTp-SP doses were identified.

Malaria in pregnancy is a major public health challenge, but its risk factors remain poorly understood in some settings. This study assessed the association between household and maternal characteristics and malaria among pregnant women in a high transmission area of Uganda.

This study documents important community engagement strategies that need to be considered when implementing malaria MDA in combination with IRS, for malaria prevention in such settings.