Development of serological biomarkers as indicators of recent and asymptomatic infections for innovative tools to accelerate malaria elimination

Hypnozoites are difficult to target, as there is no diagnostic test that can directly detect their presence in a patient’s liver and patients can have liver infection in the absence of a blood-stage infection. As a consequence, if only people with blood-stage infections are treated, a substantial part of the parasite reservoir will be missed and these medical interventions will not be efficient. Typical P. vivax strains found in tropical settings cause a primary infection followed by a primary relapse. A diagnostic test that detects exposure to P. vivax infections that can identify most, if not all, individuals who potentially harbor hypnozoites is crucial. In order to develop such a test, a well-validated panel of carefully selected, highly immunogenic antigens is required.

The validation will be done in cohort studies in 4 different populations and evaluates the performance of each antigen individual and in combination for the prediction of exposure. By using multiple endpoints and completely separate clinical studies, the researchers are thus conducting completely independent discovery and validation studies, thereby strengthening our ability to identify markers that work both globally and in different age groups

Project details

Diagnostics
P. vivax

Jan 2015

$993,030

Brazil
Solomon Islands
Thailand