Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte production and gametocyte-immunity in natural and experimentally induced infections

Teun BOUSEMA
Radboud Institute for Health Sciences, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Netherlands.

 Teun.Bousema@radboudumc.nl

In Plasmodium falciparum, male and female gametocytes are essential for onward transmission to mosquitoes. The rate at which gametocytes are produced and how it depends on environmental factors is incompletely understood. In the presentation, unpublished data from experimental and natural infections will be presented that address the questions i) when gametocytes are first produced upon infection; ii) whether gametocytes sequester preferentially in skin tissue to enhance uptake by mosquitoes; iii) which populations form the human infectious reservoir for malaria; iv) how naturally acquired immune responses influence gametocyte formation and infectivity.

Recent publications:

1 Bradley, et al. Predicting the likelihood and intensity of mosquito infection from sex specific P. f. gametocyte density. ELife, 2018.

2 Goncalves, et al. Examining the human infectious reservoir for P. f. malaria in areas of differing transmission intensity. Nat Comm, 2017.

3 Bousema, et al. The Impact of Hotspot-Targeted Interventions on Malaria Transmission in Rachuonyo South District in the Western Kenyan Highlands: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial. Plus Med, 2016.