Author:
Oshagbemi Olorunfemi A.,Lopez-Romero Pedro,Winnips Cornelis,Csermak Katalin R.,Su Guoqin,Aubrun Elodie
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Children in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remain the most vulnerable to malaria and malaria mortality. This study estimated the disease burden and distribution of Plasmodium falciparum malaria among children with age categories (0 to < 2 years, 2 to < 6 years, 6 to < 12 years, ≥ 12 years) in SSA.
Methods
Data on the number of cases and incidence rates of P. falciparum malaria by age group from the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (GBD 2019) for 11 countries in SSA was employed in this study. The best-fitting distribution of P. falciparum malaria cases by prespecified age categories was derived using a combination of a Log-normal and Weibull distribution.
Results
Plasmodium falciparum malaria was 15.4% for ages 0 to < 2 years, 30.5% for 2 to < 6 years, 17.6% for 6 to < 12 years, and 36.5% for ≥ 12 years based on data from countries in SSA. The results have important implications for the current drive by the FDA and EMA to ensure the representativeness of real-world populations in clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of medication exposure.
Conclusions
The theoretical distributions of P. falciparum malaria will help guide researchers in ensuring that children are appropriately represented in clinical trials and other interventions aiming to address the current burden of malaria in SSA.
Funder
Novartis pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Parasitology
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