Modeling the relative contribution of relapses to Plasmodium vivax infection in Brazil

• Grant number: 17/50292-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2017
• End date: November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites
• Agreement: University of New South Wales
• Mobility Program: SPRINT - Projetos de pesquisa - Mobilidade
• Principal Investigator: Marcelo Urbano Ferreira
• Grantee: Marcelo Urbano Ferreira
• Principal researcher abroad: Miles Philip Davenport
• Institution abroad: University of Wales, Wales
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Nearly 130,000 laboratory-confirmed cases of malaria were recorded in Brazil in 2016, 99.5% of them acquired in the Amazon Basin. Plasmodium vivax accounts for 88% of the malaria burden in this country, with P. falciparum being the second most prevalent malaria parasite. New episodes of P. vivax blood-stage infection may be caused by new inoculations with sporozoites (primary infections) or by reactivation of dormant liver stages, known as hypnozoites, that were generated in previous infections (relapses). The relative contribution of primary infections and relapses to the overall P. vivax burden, previously investigated in meso-to hyperendemic areas of Thailand and Papua New Guinea, remains unknown in areas of relatively low malaria transmission in Brazil. We aim, through this international research collaboration, to refine and apply a mathematical model to describe the dynamics of P. vivax infection and estimate the relative contribution of hypnozoite reactivation in a major malaria-endemic site in Brazil. Moreover, we aim to organize a three-day research workshop in São Paulo to set the stage for further research collaboration between the University of São Paulo (USP) and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in the area of mathematical epidemiology of malaria. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CORDER, RODRIGO M.; DE LIMA, ANTONIO C. P.; KHOURY, DAVID S.; DOCKEN, STEFFEN S.; DAVENPORT, MILES P.; FERREIRA, MARCELO U.. Quantifying and preventingPlasmodium vivaxrecurrences in primaquine-untreated pregnant women: An observational and modeling study in Brazil. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, v. 14, n. 7, JUL 2020. (13/21728-2, 16/18740-9, 17/50292-9)

CORDER, RODRIGO M.; DE LIMA, ANTONIO C. P.; KHOURY, DAVID S.; DOCKEN, STEFFEN S.; DAVENPORT, MILES P.; FERREIRA, MARCELO U.. Quantifying and preventing Plasmodium vivax recurrences in primaquine-untreated pregnant women: An observational and modeling study in Brazil. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, v. 14, n. 7, p. 16-pg., 2020-07-01. (17/50292-9, 13/21728-2, 16/18740-9)

CORDER, RODRIGO M.; AREZ, ANA PAULA; FERREIRA, MARCELO U.. Individual variation in Plasmodium vivax malaria risk: Are repeatedly infected people just unlucky?. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, v. 17, n. 1, p. 14-pg., 2023-01-01. (20/03611-4, 16/00270-6, 17/50292-9)