Malaria is an infectious disease affecting a large population across the world, and interventions need to be efficiently applied to reduce the burden of malaria. We develop a framework to help policy-makers decide how to allocate limited resources in realtime for malaria control. We formalize a policy for the resource allocation as a sequence of decisions, one per intervention decision, that map up-to-date disease related information to a resource allocation.
Democratic Republic of the Congo
In a cross-sectional molecular study in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 78% of households had at least one member infected with Plasmodium falciparum, vivax, and/or ovale spp. 47% of children and 33% of adults tested positive for at least one species.
Malaria remains a major public health concern in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its control is affected by recurrent conflicts. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) initiated several studies to better understand the unprecedented incidence of malaria to effectively target and implement interventions in emergency settings. The current study evaluated the main vector species involved in malaria transmission and their resistance to insecticides, with the aim to propose the most effective tools and strategies for control of local malaria vectors.
Plasmodium ovale is an understudied malaria species prevalent throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. Little is known about the distribution of ovale malaria and risk factors associated with infection in areas of high malaria endemicity.
To the Editor—We read with interest the article by Moyo et al  about risk factors and risk groups of malaria imported into the United Kingdom. Risk groups for imported malaria are gaining more attention in malaria-free countries.
The World Health Organization (WHO) attributes the entirety of malaria infection and transmission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to Plasmodium falciparum, one of the several species of malaria known to infect humans. Recent studies have put forth some evidence that transmission of Plasmodium vivax may also be occurring in the DRC. As interventions and treatments differ between malaria species, it is crucial to maintain the most accurate understanding of malaria species diversity in each region.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo adopted the strategy of using, at the community level, a dose of rectal artesunate as a pre-referral treatment for severe malaria amongst children under 5 years who could not quickly reach a health care facility and take oral medication. However, the adherence to referral advice after the integration of this strategy and the acceptability of the strategy were unknown.