Malaria Centre Newsletter, May 2018
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1. Anniversary feature - research on antimalarial drug resistance
2. Events - an introduction to screening
3. News - a month of malaria activities, change in Directorship and more
4. Conferences - first world congress
5. Blogs - all about resistance
6. Publications - malaria parasite subpopulations and iPT
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1. Anniversary Feature
20 Years of Research on Antimalarial Drug Resistance at the LSHTM Malaria Centre
By Colin Sutherland and Cally Roper
Since the LSHTM Malaria Centre launched in 1998, those antimalarial drugs which were the mainstay of malaria treatment at that time have been largely abandoned because of resistance. Research during those 20 years has capitalised on rapid technological advances in genetics and genomics, investigating the molecular determinants of resistance and developing technologies to map the emergence and spread of drug resistance. Meanwhile, in the field, trials of malaria treatment efficacy and evaluations of treatment policy conducted at the Malaria Centre incorporated molecular genetic outcomes alongside the clinical, pharmacological, anthropological and economic ones.
Read more about some of the themes of our work.
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The Malaria Centre helps to organise, support and advertise seminars and activities that would be of interest our members.
Seminars
If you have an event at the School that you would like to share with your fellow Malaria Centre members, please let us know!
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3. News
Retreat, MIM, Malaria Summit and World Malaria Day 2018
With MIM, one of the biggest international malaria conferences, taking place, our own annual retreat, the Malaria Summit and World Malaria Day, April was a busy month for the Malaria Centre and the malaria research community. We spent time in Cambridge, London and Dakar, helping to share our expert knowledge, learn from each other, find new collaborations and enjoy an evening with the Senegalese singer, Youssou N'dour.
Find out more about last month's activities.
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Malaria Centre Directorship
Chris Drakeley has stepped down as the Malaria Centre Director after more than five years at the helm. Over this time, Chris has foreseen and supported the continued growth of the Centre to more than 400 members at LSHTM. Chris has helped raise the profile of the Centre through actively promoting the work of its members and, with the support of the Steering Committee, developing multi-national collaborations. Chris' expertise in malaria research and his commitment to the Centre has ensured that the Centre has maintained itself as the authoritative voice on malaria, and we would like to thank him for his leadership.
With Chris stepping down from his position, we are pleased to announce that Sian Clarke and Colin Sutherland will be leading the Centre as Co-Directors. Sian was previously Deputy Director for the Centre, and Colin was on the Centre's Steering Committee. This year has already been a productive and busy year for us (see the news item above!), and with the guidance of Sian and Colin it will continue to be - fostering new collaborations, working to influence global practice and policy, and producing high-quality, high-impact research.
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New MARCH Centre report
The MARCH report will be launched on 22 May, and should be of interest to some of our members. There is more information on the launch on the MARCH Centre website.
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Small grants scheme in public engagement
The School’s Small Grants Scheme provides up to £1000 for School staff and Research Degree students in any Faculty to plan and deliver public engagement projects about our research.
For information about how to apply, including the Grant Application Form, as well as where to go for advice and support please log on to the School’s intranet.
Deadline: 15 June 2018, 5pm (UK time)
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4. Conferences
First World Malaria Congress
1-5 July 2018, Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre, Australia.
Oral presentation submission is closed.
Poster presentation submission closes 22 June 2018.
Registration is open until 5 July 2018.
More information and to register.
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5. Blogs
If you would like to write a blog about a recent publication for next month's newsletter, let us know by sending us an email to: malaria@lshtm.ac.uk
This month's highlighted publication feature, with blog article, is by Immo Kleinschmidt.
‘Resistance breaking’ mosquito net provides children with greater protection against malaria
Authors: Natacha Protopopoff, Jacklin F. Mosha, Eliud Lukole, et al. The Lancet 2018.
The novel net nearly halves malaria infection rate in Tanzanian children compared to standard long-lasting pyrethroid nets.
A novel class of bed net that neutralises mosquitos’ ability to resist pyrethroid insecticide is shown to significantly reduce malaria infection in children, according to new research published in The Lancet.
Read the blog.
Read the research article.
The Bug Off team also published a blog on this paper.
Implications of insecticide resistance for malaria vector control with long-lasting insecticidal nets
Authors: Kleinschmidt I, Bradley J, Knox TB, et al. Lancet Infect Dis 2018.
Long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) have provided protection against malaria for millions of people in malaria endemic countries for nearly two decades. Standard LLINs shield the person s under the net from the blood-seeking female mosquito which is likely to be killed through the insecticidal action of the chemical (known as a pyrethroid) on the net. In recent years there have been widespread reports of insecticide resistance in malaria transmitting Anopheles mosquitoes (vectors). There have been justifiable concerns that the emergence of insecticide resistance could herald a catastrophic rebound in malaria disease burden.
Read the blog.
Read the research article.
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6. Publications
A list of publications from our members can be found on our website. If you would like to highlight a publication for next month's newsletter, let us know by sending us an email to: malaria@lshtm.ac.uk
Genome‐wide mosaicism in divergence between zoonotic malaria parasite subpopulations with separate sympatric transmission cycles
Authors: Paul C. S. Divis, Craig W. Duffy, Khamisah A. Kadir, Balbir Singh, David J. Conway
Plasmodium knowlesi is a significant cause of human malaria transmitted as a zoonosis from macaque reservoir hosts in South‐East Asia.
Microsatellite genotyping has indicated that human infections in Malaysian Borneo are an admixture of two highly divergent sympatric parasite subpopulations that are, respectively, associated with long‐tailed macaques (Cluster 1) and pig‐tailed macaques (Cluster 2). Whole‐genome sequences of clinical isolates subsequently confirmed the separate clusters, although fewer of the less common Cluster 2 type were sequenced.
Profound heterogeneity in the level of intercluster divergence was distributed across the genome, with long contiguous chromosomal blocks having high or low divergence. Different mitochondrial genome clades were associated with the two major subpopulations, but limited exchange of haplotypes from one to the other was evident, as was also the case for the maternally inherited apicoplast genome.
These findings indicate deep divergence of the two sympatric P. knowlesi subpopulations, with introgression likely to have occurred recently. There is no evidence yet of specific adaptation at any introgressed locus, but the recombinant mosaic types offer enhanced diversity on which selection may operate in a currently changing landscape and human environment. Loci responsible for maintaining genetic isolation of the sympatric subpopulations need to be identified in the chromosomal regions showing fixed differences.
Read the research article.
Assessment of community-level effects of intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in schoolchildren in Jinja, Uganda (START-IPT trial): a cluster-randomised trial
Authors: Sarah G Staedke, Catherine Maiteki-Sebuguzi, Andrea M Rehman, Simon P Kigozi, et al. The Lancet Global Health.
Background | Intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) is a well established malaria control intervention. Evidence that delivering IPT to schoolchildren could provide community-level benefits is limited. We did a cluster-randomised controlled trial to assess the effect of IPT of primary schoolchildren with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP) on indicators of malaria transmission in the community, in Jinja, Uganda.
Findings | Among 23 280 students registered in the 42 intervention schools, 10 079 (43%) aged 5–20 years were enrolled and received at least one dose of DP. 9286 (92%) of 10 079 received at least one full course of DP (three doses). Community-level parasite prevalence was lower in the intervention clusters than in the control clusters (19% vs 23%, adjusted risk ratio 0·85, 95% CI 0·73–1·00, p=0·05). The aEIR was lower in the intervention group than in the control group, but not significantly so (10·1 vs 15·2 infective bites per person, adjusted incidence rate ratio 0·80, 95% CI 0·36–1·80, p=0·59).
Interpretation | IPT of schoolchildren with DP might have a positive effect on community-level malaria indicators and be operationally feasible. Studies with greater IPT coverage are needed.
Read the research article.
Read an editorial about the article.
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