Selection of study team, enrollment and follow up of children in the cohort
malaria, Febrile, fever
MALARIA, MAY
All children were enrolled on the first visit of the study team to each household. A short survey was administered to collect individual- and household-level data and confirm their eligibility in line with the set study inclusion and exclusion criteria. In a nutshell, children with confirmed malaria at the time of enrolment were excluded from the study participants. However, if an enrolled child develops malaria in subsequent follow-up rounds, they were treated with standard first line malaria treatment- Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) and once declared free of malaria parasite by microscopy, they were permitted to receive SPAQ in the subsequent cycles of SMC. The study management team selected two clinical health workers with experience in malaria management from each health facility. They were trained and equipped with tools to conduct medical assessments for fever and confirmation of malaria. From May–September 2021, they conducted monthly follow-up of the 25 children enrolled in the study in each village. During each visit they assessed the children for sickness especially fever and conducted RDTs on those with fever or suspected to have malaria. Febrile children who tested negative with an RDT were referred to a health facility to validate the result using microscopy. In the intervention arm, children’s SMC status was ascertained. Only children who received full 3 day courses of SPAQ were considered to have received SMC. Data were collected using an electronic questionnaire using SurveyCTO version 2.71.