Evaluation of a novel malaria anti-sporozoite vaccine candidate, R21 in Matrix-M adjuvant, in the UK and Burkina Faso: two phase 1, first-in-human trials.

Background: Malaria remains a substantial public health burden among young children in sub-Saharan Africa and a highly efficacious vaccine eliciting a durable immune response would be a useful tool for controlling malaria. R21 is a malaria vaccine comprising nanoparticles, formed from a circumsporozoite protein and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) fusion protein, without any unfused HBsAg, and is administered with the saponin-based Matrix-M adjuvant. This study aimed to assess the safety and immunogenicity of the malaria vaccine candidate, R21, administered with or without adjuvant Matrix-M in adults naïve to malaria infection and in healthy adults from malaria endemic areas.

Evaluating artesunate monotherapy and dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine as potential antimalarial options for prevaccination radical cures during future malaria vaccine field efficacy trials.

Background: In malaria vaccine clinical trials, immune responses after vaccination may be compromised due to immunosuppression caused by concurrent Plasmodium falciparum infection. This has a direct effect on the protective efficacy of the vaccine being evaluated. Therefore, parasite clearance prior to vaccination is being considered.

Correction: Assessment of the transmission blocking activity of antimalarial compounds by membrane feeding assays using natural Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte isolates from West-Africa.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Force of Infection (FOI) and Multiplicity of Infection (MOI) in Infected Children Aged 1.5-12 Years Living in the Malaria Endemic Area of Banfora, Burkina Faso.

The aim of this study was to explore molecular measures of malaria burden (FOI and MOI) in the context of seasonal malaria chemoprevention. We analyzed malaria cases collected as part of a longitudinal cohort study. The cohort included -negative children aged 1.

Comparative evaluation of plasma biomarkers of Schistosoma haematobium infection in endemic populations from Burkina Faso.

Infection with Schistosoma haematobium causes urogenital disease associated with organ disfunction, bleeding, pain, and higher susceptibility to infections and cancer. Timely and accurate diagnosis is crucial for prompt and appropriate treatment as well as surveillance efforts, and the use of plasma biomarkers offers important advantages over parasitological examination of urine, including increased sensitivity and the possibility to use the same specimen for multiple investigations. The present study aims to evaluate the diagnostic performance of different plasma biomarkers in endemic populations from Burkina Faso, West Africa.