Every 75 seconds, there’s a child below 5 years of age who is dying from malaria throughout the world. Burkina Faso, which also suffers from the ravages of malaria, has developed several strategies to respond to the disease including seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis (SMC). To generate basic data available for the study of the efficacy of a supervised distribution of the 3 doses of SMC, we conducted this study outside of SMC campaigns to determine the prevalence of malaria among children between 3 and 59 months old in two healthcare districts. A transversal descriptive study was conducted on children in the healthcare districts of Boromo and Gaoua. Data were collected on sociodemographic, and clinical features as well as on knowledge and practices on prevention outside of SMC from December 10 to 24, 2020. The prevalence of malaria was calculated, globally, and in each district and compared to each other using a chi-square test. Among the 2440 children, those from 2 to 5 years were the most represented with 64.22% (p < 0.0001). A total of 83.93% of families had long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLINs) (p<0.0001) and 68.57% had used them (p =0.04). The overall prevalence of malaria was 4.75%; the ones in Boromo and Gaoua were respectively 3.63% and 6.60% p=0,034). This study showed a high prevalence of malaria among children between 3 and 59 months, especially in Gaoua. Interventions should target parents of children in this age group and focus on promoting the use of LLINs.

Burkina Faso, Children Under 5 Years, Malaria Prevalence