The largest data repository of any parasitic disease in the world, it includes 7.8 million blood samples from more than 30,000 locations in 43 countries.
The open access dataset was collected and analysed by KEMRI-Wellcome Trust researchers Professor Bob Snow, Abdisalan Noor and colleagues based in Kenya, and is the result of over 20 years of research funded by Wellcome.
Declines in malaria have not been uniform; the study shows that sub-Saharan Africa has experienced a decline in malaria rates from 40% prevalence in children aged 2-10 years old between 1900 and 1929 to 24% in the same age group between 2010 and 2015. This trend has been interrupted by periods of rapidly increasing and decreasing transmission, thought to be the result of several contributing factors. Reductions in malarial infection have not been uniform across the continent. Large parts of West and Central Africa still experience high transmission rates.
The researchers argue that new tools are needed for African areas with low income and a high malaria burden, where gains in malaria reduction have stalled. They identify several challenges to malaria control, including emerging insecticide and drug resistance, and inadequate funding plans for replacing long-lasting insecticide-treated nets.
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