title: Antibody acquisition models: A new tool for serological surveillance of malaria transmission intensity.
abstract: Serology has become an increasingly important tool for the surveillance of a wide range of infectious diseases. It has been particularly useful to monitor malaria transmission in elimination settings where existing metrics such as parasite prevalence and incidence of clinical cases are less sensitive. Seroconversion rates, based on antibody prevalence to Plasmodium falciparum asexual blood-stage antigens, provide estimates of transmission intensity that correlate with entomological inoculation rates but lack precision in settings where seroprevalence is still high. Here we present a new and widely applicable method, based on cross-sectional data on individual antibody levels. We evaluate its use as a sero-surveillance tool in a Tanzanian setting with declining malaria prevalence. We find that the newly developed mathematical models produce more precise estimates of transmission patterns, are robust in high transmission settings and when sample sizes are small, and provide a powerful tool for serological evaluation of malaria transmission intensity.
authors: Unit of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Victor
authors: V
authors: Yman
authors: MRC Centre for Outbreak Analysis &Modelling, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom.
authors: Michael T
authors: MT
authors: White
authors: Unit of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.|KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Centre for Geographical Medicine Research-Coast, Kilifi, Kenya.
authors: Josea
authors: J
authors: Rono
authors: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Parasitology Section, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors: Bruno
authors: B
authors: Arcà
authors: KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Centre for Geographical Medicine Research-Coast, Kilifi, Kenya.
authors: Faith H
authors: FH
authors: Osier
authors: Department of Molecular Biosciences, the Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Sweden.
authors: Marita
authors: M
authors: Troye-Blomberg
authors: Department of Molecular Biosciences, the Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Sweden.
authors: Stéphanie
authors: S
authors: Boström
authors: Department of Biology, Federico II University, Naples, Italy.
authors: Raffaele
authors: R
authors: Ronca
authors: Nyamisati Malaria Research Unit, Rufiji, Tanzania.
authors: Ingegerd
authors: I
authors: Rooth
authors: Unit of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine Solna, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Färnert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood*; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000276:immunology* / Q000635:transmission*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan