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Research

Melissa Penny PhD, PD, BSc (Hons) Professor Fiona Stanley Chair in Child Health Research melissa.penny@thekids.org.au Professor Fiona Stanley Chair

Research

Seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine plus amodiaquine prevents millions of clinical malaria cases in children younger than 5 years in Africa's Sahel region. However, Plasmodium falciparum parasites partially resistant to sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (with quintuple mutations) potentially threaten the protective effectiveness of SMC. We evaluated the spread of quintuple-mutant parasites and the clinical consequences. 

Research

In high-transmission areas, school-aged children have higher malaria prevalence and contribute significantly to the transmission reservoir. Malaria infections can be asymptomatic or present with symptoms which may contribute to anaemia, severe illness and fatal malaria. This analysis provides trends of malaria prevalence and associated risk factors among school-aged children in mainland Tanzania. 

Research

Eradication and elimination strategies for lymphatic filariasis (LF) primarily rely on multiple rounds of annual mass drug administration (MDA), but also may benefit from vector control interventions conducted by malaria vector control programs. We aim to examine the overlap in LF prevalence and malaria vector control to identify potential gaps in program coverage. 

Research

In 2022, the World Health Organization extended their guidelines for perennial malaria chemoprevention (PMC) from infants to children up to 24 months old. However, evidence for PMC's public health impact is primarily limited to children under 15 months. Further research is needed to assess the public health impact and cost-effectiveness of PMC, and the added benefit of further age-expansion. We integrated an individual-based model of malaria with pharmacological models of drug action to address these questions for PMC and a proposed age-expanded schedule (referred as PMC+, for children 03-36 months).

Research

Bhutan has achieved a substantial reduction in both malaria morbidity and mortality over the last two decades and is aiming for malaria elimination certification in 2025. However, a significant percentage of malaria cases in Bhutan are imported (acquired in another country). The aim of the study was to understand how importation drives local malaria transmission in Bhutan.

Research

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to far-reaching disruptions to health systems, including preventative and curative services for malaria. The aim of this study was to estimate the magnitude of disruptions in malaria case management in sub-Saharan Africa and their impact on malaria burden during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used survey data collected by the World Health Organization, in which individual country stakeholders reported on the extent of disruptions to malaria diagnosis and treatment.

Research

Geostatistical analysis of health data is increasingly used to model spatial variation in malaria prevalence, burden, and other metrics. Traditional inference methods for geostatistical modelling are notoriously computationally intensive, motivating the development of newer, approximate methods for geostatistical analysis or, more broadly, computational modelling of spatial processes.

Research

Low socioeconomic status (SES), high temperature, and increasing rainfall patterns are associated with increased dengue case counts. However, the effect of climatic variables on individual dengue virus (DENV) serotypes and the extent to which serotype count affects the rate of severe dengue in Mexico have not been studied before.

Research

As malaria incidence decreases and more countries move towards elimination, maps of malaria risk in low-prevalence areas are increasingly needed. For low-burden areas, disaggregation regression models have been developed to estimate risk at high spatial resolution from routine surveillance reports aggregated by administrative unit polygons.