Impact of seasonal malaria chemoprevention on the acquisition and maintenance of immunity against malaria among children in northern Benin

Background: Malaria is still a leading cause of morbidity and mortality despite all the efforts made to control the disease. Malaria is the cause of deaths in Africa and mainly in children. A new preventive strategy was recently developed to strengthen the fight against malaria in children: intermittent preventive treatment currently called Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC). Since the implementation by the Ministry of Health in Benin, very little data is available on the evaluation of the impact of this intervention on the health situation of the population.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on children aged 6 to 59 months living in two villages in northern Benin, subjected or not to SMC. Sociodemographic and clinical data as well as repeated blood samples were collected from 440 children (before, during and after treatment). Samples will be analyzed for malaria infections and will be further analyzed using a Luminex assay to investigate the repertoire of antibody responses to PfEMP1. The functional properties of plasma will be studied on their ability to mediate the inhibition of cytoadhesion of infected red blood cells. And the prevalence of malaria infection will be detected using a real time PCR. For this first year, a total of sample was collected in four times. And laboratory analysis was going on.

Expected outcome: The study will determine the impact of SMC on; i) the prevalence of infections throughout the follow-up, ii) the development of children’s anti PfEMP1 immunity and iii) on the parasite binding phenotype during the follow-up.

Clinical Trial.gov details

Drug-based Strategies
Vulnerable Populations

Jan 2021 — Dec 2023

$167,000

Benin

Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC)