Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37641152›Full record

ArticleInfectious diseases of poverty2023

Risk of imported malaria infections in Zanzibar: a cross-sectional study.

Bakar S Fakih, Aurel Holzschuh, Amanda Ross, Logan Stuck, Ramadhan Abdul, Abdul-Wahid H Al-Mafazy, Imani Irema, Abdallah Mbena, Sumaiyya G Thawer, Shija J Shija and 5 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Infectious diseases of poverty, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed
5.2field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 18 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Imported malaria predominates in near-elimination settings in Southwestern Uganda.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.

Bakar S FakihIfakara Health Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. bakar.fakih@swisstph.ch.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8644-2499
Aurel HolzschuhSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.
Amanda RossSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.
Logan StuckTulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
Ramadhan AbdulIfakara Health Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Abdul-Wahid H Al-MafazyZanzibar Malaria Elimination Programme, Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania.
Imani IremaIfakara Health Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Abdallah MbenaIfakara Health Institute, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Sumaiyya G ThawerSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.
Shija J ShijaZanzibar Malaria Elimination Programme, Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania.
Safia M AliyZanzibar Malaria Elimination Programme, Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania.
Abdullah AliZanzibar Malaria Elimination Programme, Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania.
Günther FinkSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.
Joshua YukichTulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA, USA.
Manuel W HetzelSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.
Ifakara Health Institute · TZSwiss Tropical and Public Health Institute · CHZanzibar University · TZTulane University · USUniversity of Notre Dame · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundZanzibar has made substantial progress in malaria control with vector control, improved diagnosis, and artemisinin-based combination therapy. Parasite prevalence in the population has remained around 1% but imported infections from mainland Tanzania contribute to sustained local transmission. Understanding travel patterns between mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, and the risk of malaria infection, may help to control malaria importation to Zanzibar.

methodsA rolling cross-sectional survey linked to routine reactive case detection of malaria was carried out in Zanzibar between May 2017 and October 2018. Households of patients diagnosed with malaria at health facilities were surveyed and household members were tested for malaria using rapid diagnostic tests and a sub-sample by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Interviews elicited a detailed travel history of all household members who had travelled within the past two months, including trips within and outside of Zanzibar. We estimated the association of malaria infection with travel destinations in pre-defined malaria endemicity categories, trip duration, and other co-variates using logistic regression.

resultsOf 17,891 survey participants, 1177 (7%) reported a recent trip, of which 769 (65%) visited mainland Tanzania. Among travellers to mainland Tanzania with travel destination details and a qPCR result available, 241/378 (64%) reported traveling to districts with a 'high' malaria endemicity and for 12% the highest endemicity category was 'moderate'. Travelers to the mainland were more likely to be infected with malaria parasites (29%, 108/378) than those traveling within Zanzibar (8%, 16/206) or to other countries (6%, 2/17). Among travellers to mainland Tanzania, those visiting highly endemic districts had a higher odds of being qPCR-positive than those who travelled only to districts where malaria-endemicity was classified as low or very low (adjusted odd ratio = 7.0, 95% confidence interval: 1.9-25.5). Among travellers to the mainland, 110/378 (29%) never or only sometimes used a mosquito net during their travel.

conclusionsStrategies to reduce malaria importation to Zanzibar may benefit from identifying population groups traveling to highly endemic areas in mainland Tanzania. Targeted interventions to prevent and clear infections in these groups may be more feasible than attempting to screen and treat all travellers upon arrival in Zanzibar.

Indexed as

Communicable Diseases, ImportedMalariaCombined Modality TherapyCross-Sectional StudiesHumansTanzaniaEliminationImportationMalariaTanzaniaTravelZanzibar

Identifiers

PMID37641152
PMCPMC10464242
OpenAlexW4386223828

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.