ACREME Webinar 18 September 2025

“Modelling SP resistance through dhfr and dhps haplotypes” with Imke Botha

The emergence and spread of antimalarial drug resistance has greatly hindered efforts towards global malaria elimination. Drug resistance can be tracked through mutations at particular genetic markers within malaria parasites. In particular, it is the co-occurrence of marker mutations (haplotypes) that best informs on the effectiveness of a specific drug. Resistance to the drug sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) has been linked to mutations within the dhfr and dhps genes. While resistance to SP as a clearing agent is widespread, it can still lead to improved birth outcomes when used as an intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp). We propose a model to estimate the prevalence of dhfr and dhps haplotypes across sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on the quintuple and sextuple dhfr and dhps mutations that have been linked to resistance to SP as a clearing agent and IPTp respectively. 

“Spatio-temporal agent-based modelling of Malaria” with Md Nurul Anwar

Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for the majority of malaria morbidity and mortality each year. Malaria transmission rates vary by location and time of year due to climate and environmental conditions. We show the impact of these factors by developing a stochastic spatiotemporal agent-based malaria model that captures the impact of spatially distributed interventions on malaria transmission. Our model uses spatiotemporal estimates of mosquito climatic suitability and household location data to model the interaction between human and mosquito agents. We apply our model to investigate how strategies for distributing interventions to households in Vietnam impact the disease burden. Our study shows that providing some level of protection to a wide range of households reduces malaria prevalence more compared to providing a strong level of protection to a limited number of households.

Recordings will be available on the ACREME website.