Journal article

Declining Malaria Transmission Differentially Impacts the Maintenance of Humoral Immunity to Plasmodium falciparum in Children

CK Mugyenyi, SR Elliott, XZ Yap, G Feng, P Boeuf, G Fegan, FFH Osier, FJI Fowkes, M Avril, TN Williams, K Marsh, JG Beeson

Journal of Infectious Diseases | OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC | Published : 2017

Abstract

Background We investigated the poorly understood impact of declining malaria transmission on maintenance of antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum merozoite antigens and infected erythrocytes (IEs), including functional immunity. Methods In a 3-year longitudinal cohort of 300 Kenyan children, antibodies to different AMA1 and MSP2 alleles of merozoites, IE surface antigens, and antibody functional activities were quantified. Results Over a period in which malaria transmission declined markedly, AMA1 and MSP2 antibodies decreased substantially; estimated half-lives of antibody duration were 0.8 year and 1-3 years, respectively. However, 69%-74% of children maintained their seropositivity to AMA1 ..

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University of Melbourne Researchers