Project Title

Impact of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention on the buildup of protective immunity and the protection against clinical malaria in Burkina Faso

EDCTP Project Call

Career Development Fellowship (CDF)

Project Objectives

1. Main objective: By bringing together the unique sets of skills and expertise, we will establish the key elements for understanding the potential role of SMC on the buildup of immunity and protection against clinical malaria. Specific objective 1: to establish the impact of SMC on the magnitude of immune responses against a panel of antigens using microarrays and ELISAs. Specific objective 2: to establish the impact of SMC on the number of new Plasmodium falciparum clones acquired before and after the SMC. Specific objective 3: to establish the correlation between the numbers of new Plasmodium falciparum clones acquired, the risk of clinical malaria incidence and immune responses before and after the SMC. Specific objective 4: to establish a collaborative infrastructure for sharing expertise across partners: This project will require multiple partnerships and capabilities. We envision that the collaborative structures put in place in this project, reflecting the application of basic science research to field studies and analysis and ultimately to policy recommendations. This project will be a platform for exchange of expertise as part of interdisciplinary training for scientists in GRAS, UNB, KI, KWTRP and SU through workshops and hands-on training.

Study Design

Prospective cohort study

Project Summary

Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) is a new strategy to reduce malaria burden in young children in Sahelian countries. SMC consists of the administration of full treatment courses at regular intervals during the malaria high transmission season. However, it is not clear if there is a cumulative effect of SMC over time on acquisition of antibodies to malaria antigens. This project intends to establish the key elements for understanding the potential role of SMC on the build-up of immunity against clinical malaria in Burkina Faso. We propose to build upon collaborations between existing partners to address key knowledge gaps in our understanding on how SMC against Plasmodium falciparum infections affect during low and high transmission the following: i) parasite presence, ii) parasite density, iii) parasite diversity or clones and iv) host antibodies responses. We will establish the relationship between asexual parasite densities, multiclonal infections of Plasmodium falciparum and immune responses before and after of SMC. During Year 1 of the study, e conducted a prospective cohort study following the national health policy of SMC in Burkina Faso. It is a full treatment courses of sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine (SP + AQ) given to 6-59 months old children at monthly intervals during the malaria high transmission season from July to October. We conducted five cross sectional surveys to establish the relationship between SMC, malaria prevalence, parasite densities, and the number of new Plasmodium falciparum clones as well as the immune responses cross sectional survey and before and after the SMC. After baseline measurements participants has been passively followed up at the local health facility to document incident cases of malaria episodes.

Host Organisation

Current Organisation

Université Nazi BONI (UNB), Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

Current Job Title

Lecturer

Biography

Publications