Optimal Control Analysis of Malaria Infection in Children Under Five Years and Pregnant women under the Influence of Temperature

Optimal Control Analysis of Malaria Infection in Children Under Five Years and Pregnant women under the Influence of Temperature | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Optimal Control Analysis of Malaria Infection in Children Under Five Years and Pregnant women under the Influence of Temperature Paul Kuya Robert, Jacob Ismail Irunde, Adeline P. Mtunya This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6777147/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Malaria Journal → Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Malaria remains a notable global public health problem, affecting particularly children under five years and pregnant women in areas where temperatures are conducive for transmission. A mathematical model was developed to analyze and assess the impact of three controls which are treatment of infected individuals, long-lasting insecticide nets (LLINs), and spraying of insecticides. Due to the nature of data collected, the analysis started with the model with treatment. The next-generation matrix approach was utilized to compute the effective reproduction number (Re) which is essential for comprehending the disease transmission pattern. The numerical analysis for the model with treatment shows that treatment of individuals with malaria is an effective method to manage the disease. The optimal control theory was employed to ascertain the optimal strategy in controlling malaria infection. The cases when controls are applied independently or in combination of two or three were considered. For the case when one control was applied, it was found out that treatment of infectious humans was more successful than spraying insecticides or utilizing LLINs. When controls are used in combination, the use of Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINs) with treatment has revealed to be the most optimal strategy. However employing all three controls did not significantly outperform the combination of Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINs) and treatment. Therefore to manage malaria transmission, the study suggests utilization of Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINs) in combination with treatment of infected individuals. Malaria Effective reproduction number Optimal Control treatment Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 17 Nov, 2025 Read the published version in Malaria Journal → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 17 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 14 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 06 Jul, 2025 Reviews received at journal 02 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 20 Jun, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Jun, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 18 Jun, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 30 May, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 30 May, 2025 First submitted to journal 29 May, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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