Prevalence and risk factors for malaria in pregnancy in Vanga, Democratic Republic of Congo (Publications)
(DRC) is the second most malarious country in the world, but little information is available on malaria control measures in pregnancy. We conducted a longitudinal study among 395 women pregnant with singletons [...] Vanga Health Zone, Kwilu Province. We recruited 406 pregnant women between April and October 2019. Malaria prevalence at recruitment was 18.8% in Vanga and 30.1% in Mayoko (difference p
Delayed cerebellar ataxia, a rare post-malaria neurological complication: case report and review of the literature (Publications)
Delayed cerebellar ataxia (DCA) is a rare post-malarial neurological complication with unknown pathomechanism characterized by its self-limiting course and favorable outcome. We report a case of DCA f
Estimating intervention effectiveness in trials of malaria interventions with contamination (Publications)
Background In cluster randomized trials (CRTs) or stepped wedge cluster randomized trials (SWCRTs) of malaria interventions, mosquito movement leads to contamination between trial arms unless buffer zones separate [...] s are provided as a function of intervention coverage. The methods are applied to two SWCRTs of malaria interventions, the SolarMal trial on the impact of mass trapping of mosquitoes with odor-baited traps [...] effectiveness as a function of coverage. Conclusions The...
Transfluthrin eave-positioned targeted insecticide (EPTI) reduces human landing rate (HLR) of pyrethroid resistant and susceptible malaria vectors in... (Publications)
of transfluthrin eave-positioned targeted insecticide (EPTI) depends on the resistance status of malaria vectors. METHODS: Ribbons treated with 5.25 g transfluthrin or untreated controls were used around
Unlocking the human factor to increase effectiveness and sustainability of malaria vector control (Publications)
decade in the fight against malaria there is a critical opportunity to elevate the role of social and behaviour change to increase the impact and sustainability of malaria control and elimination efforts [...] BACKGROUND: Progress in the fight against malaria has stalled in recent years, highlighting the importance of new interventions and tailored approaches. A critical factor that must be considered across [...] research with entomological and epidemiological evaluations will provide a more...
Early life adversity, biological adaptation, and human capital: evidence from an interrupted malaria control program in Zambia (Publications)
adaptation - immunity formation - for human capital accumulation. Using variation in early life malaria risk generated by an interrupted disease control program in Zambia, we show that exposure to infectious [...] infectious diseases during the first two years of life can reduce the harmful effects of malaria exposure on cognitive development during the preschool years. These findings suggest a non-linear and traj
Analysis of contamination in cluster randomized trials of malaria interventions (Publications)
BACKGROUND: In cluster randomized trials (CRTs) of interventions against malaria, mosquito movement between households ultimately leads to contamination between intervention and control arms, unless they [...] which contamination measurably biases the estimate of effectiveness. A sigmoid function is fitted to malaria prevalence or incidence data as a function of the distance of households to the intervention boundary
Incidence of <em>Plasmodium falciparum</em> malaria infection in 6-month to 45-year-olds on selected areas of Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea (Publications)
were 58 malaria infection episodes observed during the follow up period, including 47 first and 11 repeat infections. The incidence of malaria was 0.25 [95% CI (0.19, 0.32)] and of first malaria was 0.23 [...] study area, gender, malaria positivity at screening, and household socioeconomic status independently predicted the observed incidence of malaria. CONCLUSION: Despite intensive malaria control efforts on [...] BACKGROUND: Extensive malaria control measures have been implemented on Bioko...
Characterising co-infections with <em>Plasmodium </em>spp., <em>Mansonella perstans</em> or <em>Loa loa </em>in asymptomatic children, adults and... (Publications)
Equatorial Guinea are lacking. We aimed to demonstrate that blood retained on malaria rapid diagnostic tests, commonly deployed for malaria surveys, could be used as a source of nucleic acids for molecular based [...] with malaria in an asymptomatic population. METHODOLOGY: M. perstans, L. loa and Plasmodium spp. parasites were monitored by qPCR in a cross-sectional study using DNA extracted from a subset malaria rapid [...] rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs) collected during the annual malaria...
Analysis of nucleic acids extracted from rapid diagnostic tests reveals a significant proportion of false positive test results associated with recent... (Publications)
Surveillance programmes often use malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to determine the proportion of the population carrying parasites in their peripheral blood to assess the malaria transmission intensity. Despite [...] quality control activities for RDTs deployed in malaria surveillance programmes. Methods: The diagnostic performance of field-deployed RDTs used for malaria surveys was assessed by retrospective molecular [...] P. falciparum histidine rich protein 2 (PfHRP2) antigen...