Therapeutic response to four artemisinin-based combination therapies in Angola, 2021

Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2024 Dimbu et al.Monitoring antimalarial efficacy is important to detect the emergence of parasite drug resistance. Angola conducts in vivo therapeutic efficacy studies (TESs) every 2 years in its fixed sentinel sites in Benguela, Lunda Sul, and Zaire provinces. Children with uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria were treated with artemether-lumefantrine (AL), artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ), dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine (DP), or artesunate-pyronaridine (ASPY) and followed for 28 (AL and ASAQ) or 42 days (DP and ASPY) to assess clinical and parasitological response to treatment. Two drugs were sequentially assessed in each site in February-July 2021. The primary indicator was the Kaplan-Meier estimate of the PCR-corrected efficacy at the end of the follow-up period. A total of 622 patients were enrolled in the study and 590 (95%) participants reached a study endpoint. By day 3, ≥98% of participants were slide-negative in all study sites and arms. After PCR correction, day 28 AL efficacy was 88.0% (95% CI: 82%-95%) in Zaire and 94.7% (95% CI: 90%-99%) in Lunda Sul. For ASAQ, day 28 efficacy was 92.0% (95% CI: 87%-98%) in Zaire and 100% in Lunda Sul. Corrected day 42 efficacy was 99.6% (95% CI: 99%-100%) for ASPY and 98.3% (95% CI: 96%-100%) for DP in Benguela. High day 3 clearance rates suggest no clinical evidence of artemisinin resistance. This was the fourth of five rounds of TES in Angola showing a corrected AL efficacy <90% in a site. For Zaire, AL has had an efficacy <90% in 2013, 2015, and 2021. ASAQ, DP, and ASPY are appropriate choices as artemisinin-based combination therapies in Angola.publishersversionpublishe

Continued low efficacy of artemether-lumefantrine in Angola in 2019

Funding Information: The study was funded by the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative and the Advanced Molecular Detection Initiative at the CDC. Funding Information: We thank all study staff and participants, Venceslau Mambi Pelenda, Jos? Bumba da Cunha, Oliveira Kiatoko, and Venkatachalam Udhayakumar. The findings and conclusions in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC. The study was funded by the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative and the Advanced Molecular Detection Initiative at the CDC. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2021 Dimbu et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.Biennial therapeutic efficacy monitoring is a crucial activity for ensuring the efficacy of currently used artemisinin-based combination therapy in Angola. Children with acute uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum infection in sentinel sites in the Benguela, Zaire, and Lunda Sul Provinces were treated with artemether-lumefantrine (AL) or artesunate-amodiaquine (ASAQ) and monitored for 28 days to assess clinical and parasitological responses. Molecular correction was performed using seven microsatellite markers. Samples from treatment failures were genotyped for the pfk13, pfcrt, and pfmdr1 genes. Day 3 clearance rates were ≥95% in all arms. Uncorrected day 28 Kaplan-Meier efficacy estimates ranged from 84.2 to 90.1% for the AL arms and 84.7 to 100% for the ASAQ arms. Corrected day 28 estimates were 87.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 81 to 95%) for the AL arm in Lunda Sul, 92.2% (95% CI, 87 to 98%) for AL in Zaire, 95.6% (95% CI, 91 to 100%) for ASAQ in Zaire, 98.4% (95% CI, 96 to 100%) for AL in Benguela, and 100% for ASAQ in Benguela and Lunda Sul. All 103 analyzed samples had wild-type pfk13 sequences. The 76T pfcrt allele was found in most (92%; 11/12) ASAQ late-failure samples but in only 16% (4/25) of AL failure samples. The N86 pfmdr1 allele was found in 97% (34/35) of treatment failures. The AL efficacy in Lunda Sul was below the 90% World Health Organization threshold, the third time in four rounds that this threshold was crossed for an AL arm in Angola. In contrast, the observed ASAQ efficacy has not been below 95% to date in Angola, including this latest round.publishersversionpublishe

The Simons Genome Diversity Project: 300 genomes from 142 diverse populations

Here we report the Simons Genome Diversity Project data set: high quality genomes from 300 individuals from 142 diverse populations. These genomes include at least 5.8 million base pairs that are not present in the human reference genome. Our analysis reveals key features of the landscape of human genome variation, including that the rate of accumulation of mutations has accelerated by about 5% in non-Africans compared to Africans since divergence. We show that the ancestors of some pairs of present-day human populations were substantially separated by 100,000 years ago, well before the archaeologically attested onset of behavioural modernity. We also demonstrate that indigenous Australians, New Guineans and Andamanese do not derive substantial ancestry from an early dispersal of modern humans; instead, their modern human ancestry is consistent with coming from the same source as that of other non-Africans

Towards Citizen Science Communication : How can citizen science enhance science communication?

Science communication has shifted significantly in recent decades. From an early, widespread understanding that scientific findings were disseminated in a linear, closed pathway, there is now widespread acknowledgement of the need for more comprehensive and inclusive participation in science [cf. Massarani et al., 2017; Schäfer et al., 2015]. The project “Wir forschen”, which is part of the project “Innovation Hub 13 – fast track to transfer” coordinated by Technical University of Applied Science Wildau and Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, explores methodological and practical characteristics of citizen science as a form of science communication. In this project, we outline an argumentation of understanding citizen science as science communication and furthermore introduce the term citizen science communication. In the processual course of the projects, different instruments of science communication come into play, which establish a dialog between the actors and initiate exchange with different intentions and approaches. In doing so, the project contributes to the science of science communication.</jats:p

Towards Citizen Science Communication : How can citizen science enhance science communication?

Science communication has shifted significantly in recent decades. From an early, widespread understanding that scientific findings were disseminated in a linear, closed pathway, there is now widespread acknowledgement of the need for more comprehensive and inclusive participation in science [cf. Massarani et al., 2017; Schäfer et al., 2015]. The project “Wir forschen”, which is part of the project “Innovation Hub 13 – fast track to transfer” coordinated by Technical University of Applied Science Wildau and Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg, explores methodological and practical characteristics of citizen science as a form of science communication. In this project, we outline an argumentation of understanding citizen science as science communication and furthermore introduce the term citizen science communication. In the processual course of the projects, different instruments of science communication come into play, which establish a dialog between the actors and initiate exchange with different intentions and approaches. In doing so, the project contributes to the science of science communication