Treatment administration and assessment of compliance
EVENT
During the week prior to study drug administration, all schools received log forms to enable teachers to register their schoolchildren and further sensitize pupils and parents. During sensitization, which was normally conducted through parental meetings at schools, it was emphasized that parents whose children are currently taking anti-malarial treatment or who have just finished within a week’s time, should notify the teachers before the announced date for drug administration at schools. During registration, children were weighed on scales provided by the study team. Thus, schoolchildren received drugs according to their respective body weight, following the manufacturer’s manual. Drugs were taken with water, one to two hours before lunch was served. Children were observed for 30 min post-drug administration. If a child vomited within this time, he/she was given another dose and the information was documented. If a child vomited the study drug a second time, he or she was withdrawn from receiving the drug.In the event a child missed IPTsc medication on day one, they were given an opportunity to start on the second day of the IPTsc round. If a pupil missed the second day’s dose, the child was followed home by the CHW for information and administration of the second dose (this could be within the same day or on the third day). If a child missed two consecutive doses (i.e. day 2 and 3) then this was considered an incomplete course.In this study, at least seven teachers were deployed depending on the number of pupils in a school. Each class teacher administered drugs to his/her class for all doses. This shortened delivery time to ensure routine school activities were not disrupted by the IPTsc programme, thereby increasing adherence. This arrangement also guaranteed that delivery of all IPTsc study drugs was directly observed for maximum compliance assessment (Additional file 