Research: Malaria risk at home

8 November 2005

Living conditions can play a major role in susceptibility to malaria, according to a study published today.

Dr Margaret Mackinnon, a researcher at the University of Edinburgh along with colleagues at the Kenya Medical Research Institute/Wellcome Trust Programme in Kilifi conducted a five-year study of over 3500 children living in eastern Kenya. They found that household differences accounted for around a third of the variations in attack rates.

The team studied the relative contributions of malaria-resistant genes and other factors to the risk of malaria. The first stage of the study looked at mild cases of malaria among 640 under-10s who lived in 77 households.

Just under a quarter of the variation in malaria fevers between the children was linked to genetic differences, while but 29 per cent of variation was linked to differences in household conditions.

The researchers also looked at a second group of 2900 under-fives. Around 1000 of these were admitted to hospital at least once, with half suffering from malaria.

Again, there were differences between the households of those who were ill and those who were not, with some children suffering twice the amount of infections as those they played and even ate with.

While it is not yet clear what makes the difference between a high-risk or a low-risk household, factors are likely to include whether there is a mosquito-breeding site in the back yard, the quality of the building and whether insecticides or other repellents are used.

The researchers conclude that while studies of genes offering protection against malaria could lead to the development of new drugs or vaccines in the long-term, until then, identifying and tackling the household risks is vital to reducing the burden of disease in malaria-endemic areas.

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