ABSTRACT Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) malaria is a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa despite the integrated approaches put in place to control the disease. Most of the mortality in holoendemic transmission areas occurs due to severe P. falciparum disease complication of severe malarial anaemia (SMA), a condition which largely presents in children below five years. Molecular determinants have been implicated in the pathogenesis of SMA (Hb
ABSTRACT Malaria vaccine clinical trials in exposed populations have not always been consistent in finding robust associations between the predicted immune responses and protection against disease. The selection of most promising vaccine candidates have been based on direct antibody inhibition assays that have performed dismally. This suggests that such immune correlates employed in assessing their efficacies may not be surrogate markers of protection. Immunity to asexual blood stage malaria ...
ABSTRACT Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection remains one of the greatest global public health problems. However, studies have shown that fetal haemoglobin (HbF) protects against malaria in sickle cell disease (SCD) and HbF cooperates with antibodies to provide protection. Associations between HbF and antibodies have been done only on infants and therefore protection could be due to maternal immunity. Children at 5 years old have developed their own immunity and also HbF levels do not sign...
ABSTRACT Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Kenya with a prevalence of 6.5%. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is used to manage the disease by increasing the number of CD4 cells and reducing the viral load concentration. Majority of these HAART based medication contain nevirapine (NVP) that is metabolized through the cytochrome P 450 (CYP450) system. The use of NVP is however, limited by sub-optimal response from patients. Th...
ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has now spread to all parts of the world with rates particularly high in young people (15-49 years) than older people (>50 years). Despite the global attention being paid to the epidemic of infection with HIV, the rates among older people in the sub-Saharan Africa has been a neglected area of study. This cross-sectional study carried out between the months of November, 2012 and January 2014 sought to determine the prevalence of HIV among elderly pat...
ABSTRACT Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has now spread to all parts of the world with rates particularly high in young people (15-49 years) than older people (>50 years). Despite the global attention being paid to the epidemic of infection with HIV, the rates among older people in the sub-Saharan Africa has been a neglected area of study. This cross-sectional study carried out between the months of November, 2012 and January 2014 sought to determine the prevalence of HIV among elderly pat...
ABSTRACT Introduction: Plasmodium falciparum malaria remains a global public health threat especially for children under five years. Fetuses receive maternal immunoglobulins in utero by passive transfer and this is believed to protect infants at least for the first six months after delivery. IgG3 among the IgG subclasses is known to be more protective because of the long hinge region making the molecule flexible and easier to link antigens and Fc receptors for antigen elimination. However, th...