Achieving a malaria-free world presents exciting scientific challenges as well as overwhelming health, equity, and economic benefits. WHO and countries are setting ambitious goals for reducing the burden and eliminating malaria through the “Global Technical Strategy” and 21 countries are aiming to eliminate malaria by 2020. The commitment to achieve these targets should be celebrated. However, the need for innovation to achieve these goals, sustain elimination, and free the world of malaria is greater than ever. Over 180 experts across multiple disciplines are engaged in the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) Refresh process to address problems that need to be solved. The result is a research and development agenda to accelerate malaria elimination and, in the longer term, transform the malaria community’s ability to eradicate it globally.
Thomas Eisele and Richard Steketee discuss new research in PLoS Medicine by Stephen Lim and colleagues that examined the association of insecticide-treated nets with the reduction of P. falciparum prevalence in children under 5 and all-cause post-neonatal mortality.
Abstract To determine whether maternal placental malaria is associated with an increased risk for perinatal mother-to-child HIV transmission (MTCT), we studied HIV-positive women in western Kenya. We enrolled 512 mother-infant pairs; 128 (25.0%) women had malaria, and 102 (19.9%) infants acquired HIV perinatally. Log10 HIV viral load and episiotomy or perineal tear were associated with increased perinatal HIV transmission, whereas low-density malaria (<10,000 parasites/μL) was associated with reduced risk (adjusted relative risk [ARR] 0.4). Among women dually infected with malaria and HIV, high-density malaria (>10,000 parasites/μL) was associated with increased risk for perinatal MTCT (ARR 2.0), compared to low-density malaria. The interaction between placental malaria and MTCT appears to be variable and complex: placental malaria that is controlled at low density may cause an increase in broad-based immune responses that protect against MTCT; uncontrolled, high-density malaria may simultaneously disrupt placental architecture and generate substantial antigen stimulus to HIV replication and increase risk for MTCT.
In areas with ongoing malaria transmission, strategies to clear parasites from populations can reduce infection and transmission. The objective of this paper was to describe a malaria mass testing and treatment (MTAT) intervention implemented in six kebeles (villages) in Amhara Region, Ethiopia, at the beginning of the 2014 transmission season. Intervention kebeles were selected based on incidence of passively detected Plasmodium falciparum and mixed (P. falciparum and P. vivax) malaria cases during the 2013 malaria transmission season. All households in intervention kebeles were targeted; consenting residents received a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and RDT-positive individuals received artemether-lumefantrine for P. falciparum/mixed infections or chloroquine for P. vivax. Data were collected on MTAT participation, sociodemographic characteristics, malaria risk factors, and RDT positivity. Of 9162 households targeted, 7974 (87.0 %) participated in the MTAT. Among the 35,389 residents of these households, 30,712 (86.8 %) received an RDT. RDT-positivity was 1.4 % (0.3 % P. vivax, 0.7 % P. falciparum, 0.3 % mixed), ranging from 0.3 to 5.1 % by kebele; 39.4 % of RDT-positive individuals were febrile, 28.5 % resided in the same household with another RDT-positive individual, 23.0 % were not protected by vector control interventions [mosquito net or indoor residual spray (IRS)], and 7.1 % had travel history. For individuals under 10 years of age, the odds of being RDT-positive was significantly higher for those with fever, recent use of anti-malarial drugs or residing in the same household with another RDT-positive individual; 59.0 % of RDT-positive individuals had at least one of these risk factors. For individuals 10 years of age and older, the odds of being RDT positive was significantly higher for those with reported travel, fever, recent use of anti-malarial drugs, no use of vector control, and those residing in the same household as another RDT-positive individual; 71.2 % of RDT-positive individuals had at least one of these risk factors. In the Ethiopia setting, an MTAT intervention is operationally feasible and can be conducted with high coverage. RDT-positivity is low and varies widely by kebele. While several risk factors are significantly associated with RDT-positivity, there are still many RDT-positive individuals who do not have any of these risk factors. Strategies that target populations for testing and treatment based on these risk factors alone are likely to leave many infections undetected.
ABSTRACT We evaluated a less-sensitive enzyme immunoassay (3A11-LS) for its possible use for early diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in infants. The results were compared with those from the immunoglobulin G-capture enzyme immunoassay. A total of 239 sera from 77 infants were tested. All 25 sera from the 10 infants born to seronegative mothers were found to be negative by both assays. Forty-one seroreverting infants showed a complete decay of maternal antibodies by 4 months by the 3A11-LS assay. However, the assay detected HIV antibodies in only 9 (36%) of 25 sera collected from infected infants between 4 and 6 months and in 27 (63%) of 43 sera collected after 6 months of age. Further analysis with alternative cutoff values indicated that the 3A11-LS had a sensitivity of 12 to 44% and a specificity of 90 to 100% for infants between 4–6 months of age. This data suggest that a diagnosis of HIV infection in some of the infants could be made after 4 months of age by the 3A11-LS assay, although a negative 3A11-LS test result may not rule out infection and may require a further followup.
Abstract Background: Malaria elimination efforts can be undermined by imported malaria infections. Imported infections are classified based on travel history. Methods: We applied a genetic strategy to better understand the contribution of imported infections and to test for local transmission in the very low prevalence region of Richard Toll, Senegal. Results: Genetic relatedness analysis, based upon molecular barcode genotyping data derived from diagnostic material, provided evidence for both imported infections and ongoing local transmission in Richard Toll. Evidence for imported malaria included finding that a large proportion of Richard Toll parasites were genetically related to parasites from Thiès, Senegal, a region of moderate transmission with extensive available genotyping data. Evidence for ongoing local transmission included finding parasites of identical genotype that persisted across multiple transmission seasons as well as enrichment of highly related infections within the households of non-travelers compared to travelers. Conclusions: These data indicate that, while a large number of infections may have been imported, there remains ongoing local malaria transmission in Richard Toll. These proof-of-concept findings underscore the value of genetic data to identify parasite relatedness and patterns of transmission to inform optimal intervention selection and placement.
Perinatal deaths (fetal or infant deaths from the 28th week of pregnancy up to the seventh day after birth) occur as a result of adverse conditions during pregnancy, labor, and delivery, or in the first few days of life. Placental malaria infection is known to increase the risk of delivery of a low birth weight infant, thus, potentially increasing the risk of perinatal and infant mortality. To better understand the relationship among the adverse events in pregnancy, including placental malaria infection, adverse conditions in labor, and birth weight to perinatal mortality, we investigated the perinatal mortality among a cohort of infants born to rural Malawian women for whom placental malaria infection status and birth weight were documented. Among the 2,063 mother-singleton infant pairs, there were 111 perinatal deaths (53.8 perinatal deaths per 1,000 births). The risk of perinatal death increased as birth weight decreased. Risk factors identified for perinatal mortality among all infants excluding birth weight included abnormal delivery (cesarean section, breech, or vacuum extraction), a history of a late fetal or neonatal death in the most recent previous birth among multiparous women, reactive maternal syphilis serology, nulliparity, and low socioeconomic status. Placental malaria infection was not associated with increased perinatal mortality, but was associated with lower perinatal mortality among normal birth weight (≥ 2,500 g) infants (odds ratio = 0.35, 95% confidence interval = 0.14, 0.92). Interventions to address these risk factors could have a substantial impact on reducing perinatal mortality in this population.
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