WHO identifies best targets for seasonal malaria treatment

"Pre-emptive treatment of children living in regions where [malaria] is prevalent only during the rainy season could avert 11 million cases and 50,000 deaths a year," the journal Nature reports, adding, "The estimates are based on the world's first guidance on seasonal malaria chemoprevention, issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) in March." "'One-size-fits-all policies, like bed nets, are great,' explains Rob Newman, director of the WHO's Global Malaria Programme in Geneva," Nature writes. "But for policies with a number of requirements, we need these sorts of analyses to help policymakers chart the path forward," he added, according to the journal. "Researchers think that parts of Senegal, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger will emerge [as] the most promising candidates for seasonal chemoprevention according to three factors: malaria burden, predicted malaria seasonality and the efficacy of the drug combination sulphadoxine, pyrimethamine and amodiaquine (SP-AQ)," Nature adds (Maxmen, 6/6).