Pediatric infectious disease and vaccines

The first World Health Organization recommended vaccine against malaria has ~ 50% efficacy. Therefore, we wish to understand which factors contribute to vaccine hyporesponsiveness in children residing in malaria holoendemic areas. We have enrolled about 300 Kenyan children who have received this vaccine and will be following them for 2 years to evaluate how well the vaccine works to protect them against infectious with Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria. A clinically focused project would involve understanding the incidence of acute febrile illnesses within this study population and their causes, how they are diagnosed and treated.