Malaria Pathogenesis in young children and vaccine discovery

National Institute Of Allergy And Infectious Diseases

Investigators

Linked publications, trials & patents

Abstract

Highlighted in this year’s summary are results from our publications from collaborative studies led by our research partners. 1. van Eijk AM, Stepniewska K, Khairallah C, Rodriguez E, Ahn J, Gutman JR, ter Kuuile FO, for the IPTp-SP Effectiveness Study group. The impact of sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine resistance on the effectiveness of intermittent preventive treatment for the prevention of malaria in pregnancy in Africa: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. 2025. Lancet Infectious Diseases. July 14; In research led by our collaborating partners, we updated an aggregated-data meta-analysis to assess the associations between sulfadoxine–pyrimethamine resistance and the effectiveness of IPTp-SP to inform policy. We found that IPTp-SP antimalarial efficacy is greatly reduced in very high resistance areas. However, it remains effective at reducing low birthweight in these areas, possibly through non-malaria effects on fetal growth. While IPTp-SP use should continue in high SP-resistance areas, alternative malaria preventive strategies are urgently needed in these areas. 2. Barry A, Dang L, Sidibe Y, Issiaka D, Gaoussou S, Dicko Y, Mahamar A, Attaher O, Diarra BS, Keita S, Dicko A, Duffy PE, Fried M. Preterm birth increases malaria susceptibility in offspring of uninfected multigravidae. 2025. JAMA Network Open. In press. We and our partners demonstrated that preterm delivery (PTD) in multigravid women independently was associated with increased risk of malaria in offspring. In FY2025 unpublished work: The research team in Guinea strengthened their entomology capabilities, and with financial support from the European and Developing Counties Clinical Trial Partnership and technical support from LMIV and MRTC the team, initiated a malaria transmission protocol in May 2025. This protocol enrolled 200 participants in Kaback and 100 participants in Maferinyah with individuals being screened monthly for malaria by rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and blood smear and then performing direct skin feeding bioassays (DSF) on RDT positive individuals. This work represents the first time that DSF have been performed in Guinea, which is a major milestone and a stepping-stone for the country to be involved in future transmission blocking vaccine (TBV) trials.