Association of anthelmintic treatment with malaria prevalence, incidence, and parasitemia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: Acta tropica Vol. 225; p. 106213
• Main Authors: Dila, Kadek Agus Surya, Reda, Ahmed, Elhady, Mohamed Tamer, Linh, Le Khac, Minh-Duc, Nguyen Tran, El-Qushayri, Amr Ehab, Han, Nguyen Lac, Mehta, Varshil, Hamad, Walid Mohamed Attiah, Eskarous, Hany, Samsom, Maryan, Hirayama, Kenji, Huy, Nguyen Tien
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.01.2022
• Subjects: Ascaris; Co-infection; Deworming; Hookworm; Plasmodium; Schistosoma; Trichuris; Plasmodium; Co-infection; Deworming; Hookworm; Schistosoma; Ascaris; Trichuris
• ISSN: 0001-706X; 1873-6254
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2021.106213

•Anthelmintic treatment has no impact on malaria in the presence of helminth infection.•No current evidence in literature support association of maternal anthelmintic treatment with offspring malaria incidence.•Deworming should not be halted; it could safely done in malaria-helminth coinfection. A chronic helminth infection can alter host immune response and affect malaria infection. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to find the impact of anthelmintic treatment on malaria prevalence, incidence, and parasitemia. Nine and 12 electronic databases were searched on 28th July 2015 and 26th June 2020 for relevant studies. We performed meta-analysis for malaria prevalence, incidence, parasitemia, and a qualitative synthesis for other effects of anthelmintic treatment. Seventeen relevant papers were included. There was no association between anthelmintic treatment and malaria prevalence or change of parasitemia at the end of follow up period (pooled OR 0.93, 95% CI: 0.62, 1.38, p-value=0.71 and SMD -0.08, 95%CI: -0.24, 0.07, p-value=0.30 respectively) or at any defined time points in analysis. Pooled analysis of three studies demonstrated no association between malaria incidence and anthelmintic treatment (rate ratio 0.93, 95%CI: 0.80, 1.08, p-value=0.33). Our study encourages anthelmintic treatment in countries with high burden of co-infections as anthelmintic treatment is not associated with change in malaria prevalence, incidence, or parasitemia. [Display omitted]