Further observations on chemoprophylaxis and prevalence of malaria using questionnaire data in urban and rural areas of Burkina Faso.

A cross-sectional study of malaria prevalence (98.6% Plasmodium falciparum) was carried out in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and in 3 neighbouring villages on 2117 children, zero to five years old. Data on antimalarial prophylaxis and treatment were obtained from the child's parent using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Regular weekly chloroquine consumption lowered the parasite rate but a significant increase with respect to parasite density was recorded in protected children from the rural area. No significant differences related to previous antimalarial treatments were observed in parasite rate or density. Antimalarial treatments were less frequent in children under chemoprophylaxis. Information about dosage and date of therapy was not recalled by most of the interviewed parents. Problems and suggestions for questionnaire data are briefly discussed.