Optimal Seasonal Timing of Oral Azithromycin for Malaria |
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| Authors: | Daozhou Gao Abdou Amza Baidou Nassirou Boubacar Kadri Nicholas Sippl-Swezey Fengchen Liu Sarah F Ackley Thomas M Lietman Travis C Porco |
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| Institution: | F.I. Proctor Foundation for Ophthalmological Research, University of California, San Francisco, California; Université Abdou Moumouni de Niamey, Programme National de Lutte Contre la Cécité, Niamey, Niger; Department of Ophthalmology, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, California; Institute for Global Health, University of California, San Francisco, California |
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| Abstract: | Mass administration of azithromycin for trachoma has been shown to reduce malarial parasitemia. However, the optimal seasonal timing of such distributions for antimalarial benefit has not been established. We performed numerical analyses on a seasonally forced epidemic model (of Ross-Macdonald type) with periodic impulsive annual mass treatment to address this question. We conclude that when azithromycin-based trachoma elimination programs occur in regions of seasonal malaria transmission, such as Niger, the optimal seasonal timing of mass drug administration (MDA) may not occur during the season of maximum transmission. |
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