Modeling combinations of pre-erythrocytic plasmodium falciparum malaria vaccines

Journal article

Despite substantial progress in the control of Plasmodium falciparum infection due to the widespread deployment of insecticide-treated bed nets and artemisinin combination therapies, malaria remains a prolific killer, with over half a million deaths estimated to have occurred in 2013 alone. Recent evidence of the development of resistance to treatments in both parasites and their mosquito vectors has underscored the need for a vaccine. Here, we use a mathematical model of the within-host dynamics of P. falciparum infection, fit to data from controlled human malaria infection clinical trials, to predict the efficacy of co-administering the two most promising subunit vaccines, RTS,S/AS01 and ChAd63-MVA ME-TRAP. We conclude that currently available technologies could be combined to induce very high levels of sterile efficacy, even in immune-naive individuals.

Authors: Walker, A; Lourenço, J; Hill, A; Gupta, S

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
• Journal: American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene
• Volume: 93
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 1254-1259
• Publication date: 2015-12-01
• Acceptance date: 2015-08-06
• DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0767
• EISSN: 1476-1645
• ISSN: 0002-9637
• Language: English
• Keywords: vaccines, synthetic; malaria vaccines; vaccines, combined; malaria, falciparum; SBTMR; models, theoretical; sporozoites; humans