INTEGRATION Spotlights

Did you know that the prevalence of P. falciparum infection is high in the first trimester of pregnancy and associated with adverse effects for the woman and her baby?

Dr. Valérie Briand (IRD, Epicentre, France)

Malaria in the first half of pregnancy is harmful for both the mother and her fetus. Indeed, contracting P. falciparum infection in the first trimester of pregnancy increases the risk of developing maternal anemia in the third trimester of pregnancy. In addition, this period may be a high-risk period for the fetus if pregnancy-associated malarial parasites accumulate into the placenta during trophoblast differentiation and vascular remodeling of the uterus.

Did you know the burden of malaria in pregnancy in sub-Saharan African countries?

Prof. Kassoum Kayentao (USTTB, Mali)

Malaria continues to be a major health problem in low and middle-income countries. Pregnant women and children under five years of age are the most vulnerable group affected by malaria. Each year, approximately 46 million pregnant women are at risk of malaria infection in sub-Saharan Africa and the burden of malaria is increasing year by year.

Did you know that WHO recommended R21/Matrix-M as new malaria vaccine for malaria prevention in children?

Prof. Halidou Tinto (CNRST/IRSS, Burkina Faso)

R21/ Matrix-M is the second malaria vaccine developed, already recommended by the WHO for malaria prevention in children. It targets pre-erythrocytic parasite stages of P. falciparum and has an efficacy of 75% against the efficacy of the previous vaccine RTS,S/AS01 equal to 30-40%. To date, the R21/Matrix-M vaccine has been licensed for use in Ghana, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

Did you know that implementation research also focuses on identifying the main factors that contribute negatively or discourage women from accessing malaria in pregnancy services in SSA?

Dr. Dario Scaramuzzi (R-EvoWW, Italy)

Implementation research is aimed at exploring and evaluating the barriers and facilitators that affect the adoption and integration of research findings and evidence-based health interventions into real-world settings to improve the quality, effectiveness, and equity of health services and public health.
In the context of malaria in pregnancy, the multiple factors that demotivate women from accessing antenatal care (ANC) services and IPTp-SP treatment (MiP interventions) in SSA could be grouped into four themes:

•Health system factors – failure to enforce directly observed therapies, charges for ANC and IPTp-SP services, negative attitudes of maternal health providers, stock-outs and poor ANC arrangements, failure to educate women about the benefits of SP and shortage of health staff
•Individual factors – difficulty in swallowing the tablets, potential side effects of the drugs, difficulty to pay ANC charges, and ignorance
•Socio-cultural factors – the shame and fear of revealing pregnancy, the poverty, lack of permission from their husbands and male heads of families to attend ANC, use of traditional and ancient remedies
•Environmental factors – warm weather and long distance to reach health facilities especially for women who live in rural areas

Did you know the central role of social sciences in infectious diseases prevention, management and control ?

Dr. Jenny Hill (LSTM, UK)

Social science plays a pivotal role in infectious diseases prevention, management and control since communicable diseases are not exclusively determined by biological factors but are also socially constructed. Indeed, social, economic and cultural drivers shape patterns of exposure, health-seeking behavior, infection outcomes, the likelihood of diagnosis and reporting of cases, and the uptake of interventions. By quantitative and qualitative research methods, social science studies reveal who are the most vulnerable populations to be targeted, what contextual barriers and demotivators must be overcome to implement an intervention, which policies and strategies should be adopted and how, to bridge the gap between the efficacy and the effectiveness of interventions and tools promoted and to achieve maximum impact and equity.