ArticleBMJ open2022
Economic impact of cholera in households in rural southern Malawi: a prospective study.
Article in BMJ open, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of flooding events on waterborne and vector-borne infections: a systematic review.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Pooled it
- Descriptive study of cholera-related deaths in communities during Zambia's 2023-2024 outbreak: key insights.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Vibrio cholerae: Understanding a persistent pathogen in Sub-Saharan Africa and the East Mediterranean Region.Pathogens and disease · 2025Review
- An assessment of the progress made in the implementation of the regional framework for cholera prevention and control in the WHO African region.BMJ global health · 2025Review
- Unmasking the Neglected Cholera Outbreaks in Sub-Saharan Africa.International journal of public health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionCholera remains a significant contributor to diarrhoeal illness, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Few studies have estimated the cost of illness (COI) of cholera in Malawi, a cholera-endemic country. The present study estimated the COI of cholera in Nsanje, southern Malawi, as part of the Cholera Surveillance in Malawi (CSIMA) programme following a mass cholera vaccination campaign in 2015.
methodsPatients ≥12 months of age who were recruited as part of CSIMA were invited to participate in the COI survey. The COI tool captured household components of economic burden, including direct medical and non-medical costs, and indirect lost productivity costs.
resultsBetween April 2016 and March 2020, 40 cholera cases were enrolled in the study, all of whom participated in the COI survey. Only two patients had any direct medical costs and five patients reported lost wages due to illness. The COI per patient was US$14.34 (in 2020), more than half of which was from direct non-medical costs from food, water, and transportation to the health centre.
conclusionFor the majority of Malawians who struggle to subsist on less than US$2 a day, the COI of cholera represents a significant cost burden to families. While cholera treatment is provided for free in government-run health centres, additional investments in cholera control and prevention at the community level and financial support beyond direct medical costs may be necessary to alleviate the economic burden of cholera on households in southern Malawi.
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