Project Title

Impact of seasonal malaria chemoprevention on the acquisition and maintenance of immunity against malaria among children in northern Benin (ISAMIMA)

Project Objectives

Objectives: Determine the prevalence of malaria infection in children under five years of age living in northern Benin before, during and after seasonal malaria chemoprevention Determine the impact of seasonal malaria chemoprevention on anemia Determine the impact of seasonal malaria chemoprevention on the acquisition and maintenance of the antibody repertoire with specificity forPfEMP1 in children before, during and after the intervention

Host Organisation

EDCTP Project Call

Career Development Fellowship (CDF)

Study Design

This is a study that focuses on the follow-up over 18 months of children aged 6 to 59 months who receive SMC, along with a control group not receiving SMC.

Project Summary

Background Malaria is still a leading cause of morbidity and mortality despite all the efforts made to control the disease. Malaria is the cause of deaths in Africa and mainly in children. A new preventive strategy was recently developed to strengthen the fight against malaria in children: intermittent preventive treatment currently called Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC). Since the implementation by the Ministry of Health in Benin, very little data is available on the evaluation of the impact of this intervention on the health situation of population. Objective This study aims to evaluate the effects of SMC with Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine(SP) and Amodiaquine (AQ) on the evolution of anti-malarial immunity of children and their susceptibility to malarial infection. Methods This is a cross-sectional study on children aged 6 to 59months with/without SMC in two villages in northern Benin. Sociodemographic and clinical data as well as repeated blood samples will be collected from 1000 children (before, during and after treatment). Samples will be analyzed using a Luminex assay to investigate antibody responses to MSP, AMA1 and PfEMP1. The functional activity of antibodies will be assessed using receptor binding assay. RT-PCR will be used to detect the repertoire of var gene transcripts of parasites infecting children. Sociodemographic, clinical and laboratory data will be entered into STATA for analysis. Associations will be tested using chi-square (for categorical variables) and non-parametric tests (for continuous variables). Expected outcome The study will determine the impact of SMC on the development of children’santi-malarial immunity. It will also identify parasite variants capable of infecting children following treatment. The information collected will help in surveillance efforts of SMC as well in the selection and development of new vaccine strategies for malaria in the study area and beyond

Current Organisation

University of Parakou

Current Job Title

Associate Professor

Biography