VOA常速英语:非洲：预防疟疾一小步，孩子成绩提高一大步

Most malaria prevention programs focus on the under 5s but infection is often higher among schoolchildern who have developed a level of immunity and are less likely to die from the disease.Many schoolchildern continue to harbor malaria parasites without displaying any symptoms of the disease.Left untreated, the child’s health often deteriorates.

“The malaria parasites destroy the red blood cells, and as a consequence of that you get chronic anemia in children.Generally, children who are anemic feel weak, they’re tired, they’re generally lethargic,they are going to be less active and less fully engaged.”

The malaria prevention research involved nearly 2,000 schoolchildren in Mali.It was led by Save the Children and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,alongside the National Institute for Public Health Research in Mali.

Around half the children were given a malaria control package delivered by their teachers, which included prevention education, insecticide-treated nets and anti-malarial treatment.Malaria infection rates fell from 80 percent to just 5 percent, and cases of anemia were almost halved compared to the control group.

“And the children’s capacity to pay attention for longer was increased.”Save the Children has helped expand the program to 400 schools in Mali, it’s the second African country to host the trial.

“So the first study was done in Kenya, an area of year-round transmission.This study was done in Mali, an area with malaria concentrated in just a few months.And the fact that we saw similar results in both settings would suggest that where malaria is a significant problem and the levels of infection are high, then you might expect to see a similar impact in other settings.”

Aid workers say preventing anemia in Malian schoolgirls is particularly important because of high teenage marriage and pregnancy rates.Anemia during pregnancy can lead to a low birth weight and a higher risk of child mortality.

Henry Ridgwell, for VOA News, London.