The co-distribution of Plasmodium falciparum and hookworm among African schoolchildren

Statistical models are presented that predict the large-scale distribution of hookworm in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), based on the relationship between prevalence of infection among schoolchildren and remotely sensed environmental variables. Using a climate-based spatial model of the transmission potential for Plasmodium falciparum malaria, adjusted for urbanization, the spatial congruence of populations at coincident risk of infection is determined.The model of hookworm indicates that the infection is widespread throughout Africa and that, of the 179.3 million school-aged children who live on the continent, 50.0 (95% CI: 48.9–51.1) million (27.9% of total population) are infected with hookworm and 45.1 (95% CI: 43.9–46) million are estimated to be at risk of coincident infection.Malaria and hookworm infection are widespread throughout SSA and over a quarter of school-aged children in sub-Saharan Africa appear to be at risk of coincident infection and thus at enhanced risk of clinical disease. The results suggest that the control of parasitic helminths and of malaria in school children could be viewed as essential co-contributors to promoting the health of schoolchildren.The economically developing world, particularly sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), bears the brunt of premature mortality, morbidity and disability. Much of this disease burden is the result of endemic parasitic infections that have adapted to tropical ecosystems and their vectors [1]. Among the parasitic diseases, Plasmodium falciparum malaria inflicts the largest burden [1,2] and hookworm infection is amongst the most common of all chronic infections, with a third of the continent's population infected at any one time [3,4]. The high prevalence of both infections among individuals living in Africa means that co-infection with P. falciparum and hookworm is extremely common [5,6]. There is increasing evidence that co-infection with multiple parasites may impair the immune response of the host to single parasit