For Students in Kenya, Medicine Seems to Improve Attention Span

Giving schoolchildren in rural Kenya regular doses of malaria medicine, even if they weren’t obviously sick, seemed to improve their attention span in school as it protected them from anemia, a study has found.

The study, published last week in The Lancet, was conducted by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Harvard and four Kenyan institutions.
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All the students were poor — 97 percent studied by kerosene lamps or candles at home. Nearly half had malaria parasites but no fever when the study began. In malarial areas, it is common for anyone surviving to age 5 to develop some immunity.

The drugs — sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and amodiaquine — do not contain artemisinin, the newest malaria drug, but are inexpensive and considered safe.

All the students were also treated for intestinal worms, which can cause anemia — a low red-blood-cell count.