May 12, 2023
“Quantification of parasite clearance in Plasmodium knowlesi infections” with Jeyamalar T Thurai Rathnam
The incidence of zoonotic Plasmodium knowlesi infections in humans is becoming more prevalent in Southeast Asia, emphasising the need for clinical studies to monitor the efficacy of antimalarial treatments. A key outcome for antimalarial drug efficacy is parasite clearance. Parasite clearance is estimated using the standard two-stage method for Plasmodium falciparum infections. An alternative approach is Bayesian hierarchical modelling that simultaneously analyses all parasite-time patient profiles to determine parasite clearance. This study aims to compare these two methods for parasite clearance estimation in P. knowlesi infections, which usually have fewer parasite measurements per patient due to high antimalarial treatment susceptibility.
“SMaRT: Serological markers for residual malaria transmission” with Dr Rhea Longley
In this presentation Rhea will give an overview of the newly funded project “SMaRT” – a collaboration between researchers in Australia, the Philippines and the US. This project aims to generate the evidence base for the use of Plasmodium vivax serological exposure markers in the Philippines for identifying residual foci of transmission and to predict and respond to malaria outbreaks. This will involve conducting new health-facility surveys in a province with reported P. vivax outbreaks in the prior two years, applying the serological exposure markers, and using the data to inform locally appropriate and evidence- based interventions to accelerate elimination.