Human behaviour and residual malaria transmission in Zanzibar: findings from in-depth interviews and direct observation of community events (Publications)
risk of malaria infection during these times. Travel and migration emerged as a crucial issue and participants viewed seasonal workers coming from mainland Tanzania as more likely to have a malaria infection [...] CONCLUSIONS: Targeting malaria interventions effectively is critical and should be informed by a clear understanding of relevant human behaviour. These findings highlight malaria prevention gaps in Zanzibar [...] final phases of malaria elimination. Development and deployment of...
Hemozoin-catalyzed precipitation polymerization as an assay for malaria diagnosis (Publications)
Methods to diagnose malaria are of paramount interest to eradicate the disease. Current methods have severe limitations, as they are either costly or not sensitive enough to detect low levels of parasitemia [...] increase is proportional to the concentration of hemozoin, with a detection limit of 0.85 ng mL(-1). Malaria parasites in human blood can be detected down to 10 infected red blood cells muL(-1). The assay could
High cure rates and tolerability of artesunate-amodiaquine and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria in... (Publications)
BACKGROUND: The Tanzanian National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) and its partners have been implementing regular therapeutic efficacy studies (TES) to monitor the performance of different drugs used [...] mefantrine, which is the first-line anti-malarial for the treatment of uncomplicated falciparum malaria. Data on the performance of other artemisinin-based combinations is urgently needed to support timely [...] parasitological responses of ASAQ and DP for directly observed treatment of...
Insufficient sensitivity of laser desorption-time of flight mass spectrometry-based detection of hemozoin for malaria screening (Publications)
detection of hemozoin was assessed for its performance characteristics as a rapid screening test for malaria. In spite of good specificity of > 95%, poor sensitivity of 80.2% for microscopically positive samples
Lysyl-tRNA synthetase as a drug target in malaria and cryptosporidiosis (Publications)
Malaria and cryptosporidiosis, caused by apicomplexan parasites, remain major drivers of global child mortality. New drugs for the treatment of malaria and cryptosporidiosis, in particular, are of high [...] PfKRS1 and C. parvum KRS (CpKRS). In vivo proof of concept was established in an SCID mouse model of malaria, after oral administration (ED90 = 1.5 mg/kg, once a day for 4 d). Furthermore, we successfully [...] HsKRS. Our work validates apicomplexan KRSs as promising targets for the...
Safety profile of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine in infants and children: additional data from a phase III randomized controlled trial in sub-Saharan... (Publications)
RTS,S/AS01 (R3R) or non-malaria control vaccine (C3C), or 3 RTS,S/AS01 doses plus control (R3C). Aggregate safety data were reviewed by a multi-functional team. Severe malaria with Blantyre Coma Score [...] controlled trial (NCT00866619) in sub-Saharan Africa showed RTS,S/AS01 vaccine efficacy against malaria. We now present in-depth safety results from this study. 8922 children (enrolled at 5-17 months)
Highly heterogeneous residual malaria risk in western Thailand (Publications)
substantial and poses a challenge for the national malaria elimination program. To determine epidemiological parameters as well as risk factors for malaria infection in western Thailand, we carried out a [...] Over the past decades, the malaria burden in Thailand has substantially declined. Most infections now originate from the national border regions. In these areas, the prevalence of asymptomatic infections [...] provinces on the Thailand-Myanmar border. Blood samples from 999 local...