Study setting.
malaria
MALARIA, WEST
Participants were enrolled in 44 Centers de Santé et de Promotion Sociale (CSPS) in five regions of Burkina Faso. CSPSs are the first level of the government-run healthcare system and offer services such as antenatal care and vaccination visits. These services are free of charge for pregnant women and children under 5 years of age. Burkina Faso is located in the Sahel in West Africa and experiences highly seasonal rainfall, from approximately July through October. The rainy season coincides with the high malaria transmission season. During the rainy season, children aged 3 to 59 months in the study catchment areas are eligible for monthly seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) with sulfadoxine-pyramethamine. Although children under 3 months of age are not eligible for SMC; infants enrolled in the present study who were between 3 and 6 months of age from July through October may therefore have received up to four doses of SMC that coincided with the follow-up period of the study.