Hyper-diverse antigenic variation and resilience to transmission-reducing intervention in falciparum malaria.
Nat Commun
; 15(1): 7343, 2024 Aug 26.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39187488
ABSTRACT
Intervention efforts against falciparum malaria in high-transmission regions remain challenging, with rapid resurgence typically following their relaxation. Such resilience co-occurs with incomplete immunity and a large transmission reservoir from high asymptomatic prevalence. Incomplete immunity relates to the large antigenic variation of the parasite, with the major surface antigen of the blood stage of infection encoded by the multigene and recombinant family known as var. With a stochastic agent-based model, we investigate the existence of a sharp transition in resurgence ability with intervention intensity and identify molecular indicators informative of its proximity. Their application to survey data with deep sampling of var sequences from individual isolates in northern Ghana suggests that the transmission system was brought close to transition by intervention with indoor residual spraying. These results indicate that sustaining and intensifying intervention would have pushed malaria dynamics to a slow-rebound regime with an increased probability of local parasite extinction.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Plasmodium falciparum
/
Antigenic Variation
/
Malaria, Falciparum
Limits:
Animals
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
En
Journal:
Nat Commun
Journal subject:
BIOLOGIA
/
CIENCIA
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States
Country of publication:
United kingdom