Maximizing research study effectiveness in malaria elimination settings: a mixed methods study to capture the experiences of field-based staff.

BACKGROUND: In a drug-resistant, malaria elimination setting like Western Cambodia, field research is essential for the development of novel anti-malarial regimens and the public health solutions necessary to monitor the spread of resistance and eliminate infection. Such field studies often face a variety of similar implementation challenges, but these are rarely captured in a systematic way or used to optimize future study designs that might overcome similar challenges. Field-based research staff often have extensive experience and can provide valuable insight regarding these issues, but their perspectives and experiences are rarely documented and seldom integrated into future research protocols. This mixed-methods analysis sought to gain an understanding of the daily challenges encountered by research field staff in the artemisinin-resistant, malaria elimination setting of Western Cambodia. In doing so, this study seeks to understand how the experiences and opinions of field staff can be captured, and used to inform future study designs. METHODS: Twenty-two reports from six field-based malaria studies conducted in Western Cambodia were reviewed using content analysis to identify challenges to conducting the research. Informal Interviews, Focus Group Discussions and In-depth Interviews were also conducted among field research staff. Thematic analysis of the data was undertaken using Nvivo 9® software. Triangulation and critical case analysis was also used. RESULTS: There was a lack of formalized avenues through which field workers could report challenges experienced when conducting the malaria studies. Field research staff faced significant logistical barriers to participant recruitment and data collection, including a lack of available transportation to cover long distances, and the fact that mobile and migrant populations (MMPs) are usually excluded from studies because of challenges in follow-up. Cultural barriers to communication also hindered participant recruitment and created unexpected delays. Field staff often paid a physical, emotional and financial cost, going beyond their duty in order to keep the study running. CONCLUSIONS: Formal monthly reports filled out by field study staff could be a key tool for capturing field study staff experiences effectively, but require specific report fields to encourage staff to outline their challenges and to propose potential solutions. Forging strong bonds with communities and their leaders may improve communication, and decrease barriers to participant recruitment. Study designs that make it feasible for MMPs to participate should be pursued; in addition to increasing the potential participant pool, this will ensure that the most malaria-endemic demographic is taken into account in research studies. Overlaps between clinical care and research create ethical dilemmas for study staff, a fact that warrants careful consideration. Lessons learned from study field staff should be used to create a set of locally-relevant recommendations to inform future study designs.

High mobility, low access thwarts interventions among seasonal workers in the Greater Mekong Sub-region: lessons from the malaria containment project.

BACKGROUND: During the process of malaria elimination in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, mobile and migrant populations (MMPs) have been identified as the most at-risk demographic. An important sub-group of MMPs are seasonal workers, and this paper presents an evaluation of the reach and effectiveness of interventions tailored towards this group and was carried out as part of the Containment Project from 2009-11. METHODS: A mixed-methods study was conducted in Pailin Province in Western Cambodia. Three-hundred-and-four seasonal workers were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. Qualitative data were gathered through a total of eight focus group discussions and 14 in-depth interviews. Data triangulation of the qualitative and quantitative data was used during analysis. RESULTS: High mobility and low access of the target population to the interventions, as well as lack of social and anthropological research that led to implementation oversights, resulted in under-exposure of seasonal workers to interventions. Consequently, their reach and impact were severely limited. Some services, particularly Mobile Malaria Workers, had the ability to significantly impact key factors, such as risky behaviours among those they did reach. Others, like Listening and Viewing Clubs and mass media campaigns, showed little impact. CONCLUSIONS: There is potential in two of the interventions assessed, but high mobility and inadequate exposure of seasonal workers to these interventions must be considered in the development and planning of future interventions to avoid investing in low-impact activities and ensure that all interventions perform according to their maximum potential. This will be critical in order for Cambodia to achieve its aim of malaria elimination. The lessons learned from this study can be extrapolated to other areas of health care in Cambodia and other countries in order to reduce the gap between healthcare provided to MMPs, especially seasonal workers, and to the general population.

World Malaria Day 2016 in the Kingdom of Cambodia: high-level governmental support embodies the WHO call for "political will to end malaria".

On World Malaria Day 2016, The Kingdom of Cambodia's National celebrations served as a prime of example of how political will is currently being exercised in Cambodia through high-level governmental support for malaria elimination. The main country event was well-planned and coordinated by the National Programme for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control (CNM), and included key contributions from high-ranking political figures, such as His Excellency (H.E) Mam Bun Heng (Minister of Health), and H.E. Keut Sothea (Governor of Pailin Province). There were more than 1000 attendees, ranging from Village Malaria Workers and high school students to CNM's director and other officials in Pailin Province, Western Cambodia. A strong inter-sectoral participation included attendances from the Ministry of Education and high-level representatives of the Cambodian Armed Forces, as well as Malaria Partners like the World Health Organization.

History of malaria treatment as a predictor of subsequent subclinical parasitaemia: a cross-sectional survey and malaria case records from three villages in Pailin, western Cambodia.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of the sub-clinical reservoir of malaria, which may maintain transmission, could be an important component of elimination strategies. The reliable detection of asymptomatic infections with low levels of parasitaemia requires high-volume quantitative polymerase chain reaction (uPCR), which is impractical to conduct on a large scale. It is unknown to what extent sub-clinical parasitaemias originate from recent or older clinical episodes. This study explored the association between clinical history of malaria and subsequent sub-clinical parasitaemia. METHODS: In June 2013 a cross-sectional survey was conducted in three villages in Pailin, western Cambodia. Demographic and epidemiological data and blood samples were collected. Blood was tested for malaria by high-volume qPCR. Positive samples were analysed by nested PCR to determine the Plasmodium species. To identify previous episodes of malaria, case records were collected from village malaria workers and local health facilities and linked to study participants. RESULTS: Among 1343 participants, 40/122 (32.8 %) with a history of clinical malaria were parasitaemic during the cross-sectional survey, compared to 172/1221 (14.1 %) without this history (p < 0.001). Among the 212 parasitaemic participants in the survey, 40 (18.9 %) had a history of clinical malaria, compared to 87 out of 1131 (7.7 %) parasite-negative participants; p < 0.001, adjusted OR 3.3 (95 % CI; 2.1-5.1). A history of Plasmodium vivax was associated with sub-clinical P. vivax parasitaemia in the survey (p < 0.001), but this association was not seen with Plasmodium falciparum (p = 0.253); only three participants had both P. falciparum parasites in the survey and a clinical history of P. falciparum. CONCLUSIONS: A clinical episode of vivax malaria was associated with subsequent sub-clinical parasitaemia. Treatment of P. vivax with artemisinin-based combination therapy without primaquine often resulted in recurrent episodes. Targeting individuals with a history of clinical malaria will be insufficient to eliminate the sub-clinical reservoir as they constitute a minority of parasitaemias.

Determinants of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine treatment failure in Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Cambodia, Thailand, and Vietnam: a prospective clinical, pharmacological, and genetic study.

BACKGROUND: The emergence and spread of resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria to artemisinin combination therapies in the Greater Mekong subregion poses a major threat to malaria control and elimination. The current study is part of a multi-country, open-label, randomised clinical trial (TRACII, 2015-18) evaluating the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of triple artemisinin combination therapies. A very high rate of treatment failure after treatment with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine was observed in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. The immediate public health importance of our findings prompted us to report the efficacy data on dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine and its determinants ahead of the results of the overall trial, which will be published later this year. METHODS: Patients aged between 2 and 65 years presenting with uncomplicated P falciparum or mixed species malaria at seven sites in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam were randomly assigned to receive dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine with or without mefloquine, as part of the TRACII trial. The primary outcome was the PCR-corrected efficacy at day 42. Next-generation sequencing was used to assess the prevalence of molecular markers associated with artemisinin resistance (kelch13 mutations, in particular Cys580Tyr) and piperaquine resistance (plasmepsin-2 and plasmepsin-3 amplifications and crt mutations). This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02453308. FINDINGS: Between Sept 28, 2015, and Jan 18, 2018, 539 patients with acute P falciparum malaria were screened for eligibility, 292 were enrolled, and 140 received dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine. The overall Kaplan-Meier estimate of PCR-corrected efficacy of dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine at day 42 was 50·0% (95% CI 41·1-58·3). PCR-corrected efficacies for individual sites were 12·7% (2·2-33·0) in northeastern Thailand, 38·2% (15·9-60·5) in western Cambodia, 73·4% (57·0-84·3) in Ratanakiri (northeastern Cambodia), and 47·1% (33·5-59·6) in Binh Phuoc (southwestern Vietnam). Treatment failure was associated independently with plasmepsin2/3 amplification status and four mutations in the crt gene (Thr93Ser, His97Tyr, Phe145Ile, and Ile218Phe). Compared with the results of our previous TRACI trial in 2011-13, the prevalence of molecular markers of artemisinin resistance (kelch13 Cys580Tyr mutations) and piperaquine resistance (plasmepsin2/3 amplifications and crt mutations) has increased substantially in the Greater Mekong subregion in the past decade. INTERPRETATION: Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine is not treating malaria effectively across the eastern Greater Mekong subregion. A highly drug-resistant P falciparum co-lineage is evolving, acquiring new resistance mechanisms, and spreading. Accelerated elimination of P falciparum malaria in this region is needed urgently, to prevent further spread and avoid a potential global health emergency. FUNDING: UK Department for International Development, Wellcome Trust, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Medical Research Council, and National Institutes of Health.

Focused Screening and Treatment (FSAT): a PCR-based strategy to detect malaria parasite carriers and contain drug resistant P. falciparum, Pailin, Cambodia.

Recent studies have shown that Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasites in Pailin province, along the border between Thailand and Cambodia, have become resistant to artemisinin derivatives. To better define the epidemiology of P. falciparum populations and to assess the risk of the possible spread of these parasites outside Pailin, a new epidemiological tool named "Focused Screening and Treatment" (FSAT), based on active molecular detection of asymptomatic parasite carriers was introduced in 2010. Cross-sectional malariometric surveys using PCR were carried out in 20 out of 109 villages in Pailin province. Individuals detected as P. falciparum carriers were treated with atovaquone-proguanil combination plus a single dose of primaquine if the patient was non-G6PD deficient. Interviews were conducted to elicit history of cross-border travel that might contribute to the spread of artemisinin-resistant parasites. After directly observed treatment, patients were followed up and re-examined on day 7 and day 28. Among 6931 individuals screened, prevalence of P. falciparum carriers was less than 1%, of whom 96% were asymptomatic. Only 1.6% of the individuals had a travel history or plans to go outside Cambodia, with none of those tested being positive for P. falciparum. Retrospective analysis, using 2010 routine surveillance data, showed significant differences in the prevalence of asymptomatic carriers discovered by FSAT between villages classified as "high risk" and "low risk" based on malaria incidence data. All positive individuals treated and followed-up until day 28 were cured. No mutant-type allele related to atovaquone resistance was found. FSAT is a potentially useful tool to detect, treat and track clusters of asymptomatic carriers of P. falciparum along with providing valuable epidemiological information regarding cross-border movements of potential malaria parasite carriers and parasite gene flow.