The impact of weekly fever-screening and treatment and monthly RDT testing and treatment on the infectious reservoir of malaria in Burkina Faso: results from a cluster-randomised trial

The majority of malaria infections in endemic countries are asymptomatic and a source of onward transmission to mosquitoes. Malaria transmission and disease burden could be reduced by improving early detection and treatment of these infections with active screening approaches. In an 18-month cluster-randomized study in Sapone, Burkina Faso, households were enrolled and randomised to 1 of 3 arms: arm 1 - control; arm 2 - active weekly screening for febrile individuals and treatment if rapid diagnostic test (RDT) positive; or arm 3 – active weekly fever-screening (as arm 2) plus monthly RDT-testing regardless of symptoms. The primary outcome was parasite prevalence by qPCR in the end-of-study cross-sectional survey. Secondary outcomes included parasite and gametocyte prevalence and density in all three end-of-season cross-sectional surveys, incidence of infection, and the transmissibility of infections to mosquitoes. A total of 906 individuals were enrolled during 2 phases. In Phase 1, 41..., Participants were permanent residents in the  Sapone Marche and Pissy LHF catchment areas and were enrolled in a total of 181 households. Households were randomized into 3 study arms that received different levels of care.
Standard of care with Passive case detection (PCD) (performed in arms 1, 2 & 3): All participants received unique identification cards for use when attending two designated local health facilities. Clinical malaria episodes were passively monitored, with axillary temperature and medical history recorded, and malaria diagnosed by conventional Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT; First Response Malaria Ag. pLDH/HRP2, specific for P. falciparum and/or other Plasmodium species). 
Weekly fever screening, testing, and treatment (arms 2 & 3): All participants in arms 2 and 3 were visited weekly by a community health worker to screen for fever. Participants with a current fever (≥ 37.5°C) or a history of fever in the last 24 hours were referred to a health facility and an RDT ..., , # The impact of weekly fever-screening and treatment and monthly RDT testing and treatment on the infectious reservoir of malaria in Burkina Faso: results from a cluster-randomised trial

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fxpnvx117](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.fxpnvx117)

In an 18-month cluster-randomized study in Sapone, Burkina Faso, households were enrolled and randomised to 1 of 3 arms: arm 1 - control; arm 2 - active weekly screening for febrile individuals and treatment if rapid diagnostic test (RDT) positive; or arm 3 – active weekly fever-screening (as arm 2) plus monthly RDT-testing regardless of symptoms. The primary outcome was parasite prevalence by quantitive PCR (qPCR) in the end-of-study cross-sectional survey. The study protocol is provided in detail in doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030598

## Description of the data and file structure

The dataset is an Excel file where each line is an observation from an individual (idind). There is a hierarchical structure in the dataset w...