Published in BMC Medicine
BackgroundIn endemic areas, pregnant women are highly susceptible to Plasmodium falciparum malaria characterized by the accumulation of parasitized red blood cells (pRBC) in the placenta. In subsequent pregnancies, women develop protective immunity to pregnancy-associated malaria and this has been hypothesized to be due to the acquisition of antibo...
Published in Malaria Journal
BackgroundMultiple red blood cell (RBC) variants appear to offer protection against the most severe forms of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Associations between these variants and uncomplicated malaria are less clear.MethodsData from a longitudinal cohort study conducted in 3 sub-counties in Uganda was used to quantify associations between three re...
Published in Malaria Journal
BackgroundA previous cohort study in Malawi showed that users of new insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) were significantly protected against malaria compared to non-users, despite moderate levels of pyrethroid resistance among the primary mosquito vectors. The present study investigated whether ITNs that were 1–2 years old continued to protect use...
Published in Malaria Journal
BackgroundZambia has set itself the ambitious target of eliminating malaria by 2021. To continue tracking transmission to zero, new interventions, tools and approaches are required.MethodsUrban reactive case detection (RCD) was performed in Lusaka city from 2011 to 2015 to better understand the location and drivers of malaria transmission. Briefly,...
Published in Malaria Journal
BackgroundBubaque is the most populous island of the Bijagos archipelago, a group of malaria-endemic islands situated off the coast of Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. Malaria vector control on Bubaque relies almost exclusively on the use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs). However, there is little information on local vector bionomics and insect...
Published in Malaria Journal
BackgroundThe intraerythrocytic development cycle (IDC) of the rodent malaria Plasmodium chabaudi is coordinated with host circadian rhythms. When this coordination is disrupted, parasites suffer a 50% reduction in both asexual stages and sexual stage gametocytes over the acute phase of infection. Reduced gametocyte density may not simply follow fr...
Published in Malaria Journal
BackgroundExpanding access to long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) is difficult if one is limited to government and donor financial resources. Private commercial markets could play a larger role in the continuous distribution of LLINs by offering differentiated LLINs to middle-class Ghanaians. This population segment has disposable income and may...
Published in Malaria Journal
BackgroundNorthern Senegal is a zone of very low malaria transmission, with an annual incidence of
Published in Malaria Journal
BackgroundMalaria diagnostics by rapid diagnostic test (RDT) relies primarily on the qualitative detection of Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2) and Plasmodium spp lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH). As novel RDTs with increased sensitivity are being developed and implemented as point of care diagnostics, highly sensitive laboratory-...
Published in Genome Medicine
BackgroundPlasmodium falciparum (Pf) whole-organism sporozoite vaccines have been shown to provide significant protection against controlled human malaria infection (CHMI) in clinical trials. Initial CHMI studies showed significantly higher durable protection against homologous than heterologous strains, suggesting the presence of strain-specific v...
