This is a clinical study to assess the safety and feasibility of Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) controlled blood-stage human malaria infection (CHMI), by inoculation using a newly created source of P. vivax malaria-infected blood. 25 healthy malaria-naïve UK volunteers, aged 18 - 50, will be recruited through the five phases of the study at the CCVTM, Oxford. Volunteers will undergo primary, secondary and tertiary P. vivax blood-stage challenges, which will be induced by injection of P. vivax infected blood. After the first challenge, the optimal dose for blood-stage CHMI will be selected and used for the second and third challenges. Through each challenge period, volunteers will have blood taken at regular intervals to measure the parasite growth, quantify the sexual parasite forms and assess the immune response to P. vivax infection. Transmission of P. vivax from volunteers to the Anopheline mosquito vectors will also be assessed. In each challenge, following diagnosis, volunteers will be treated with a standard antimalarial course of oral artemether-lumefantrine (Riamet), given over 60 hours. Volunteers who take part in this study will be involved in the trial for approximately 2 years, receiving each of the three challenges at intervals of approximately 5 (and up to 9) months. Volunteers will be followed for 3 months after their last challenge.
This study aims primarily to assess the safety and feasibility of controlled blood-stage human P. vivax malaria infection. This will be the first time that this source of P. vivax infected blood will be utilised and the first P. vivax bloodstage CHMI in Europe. If demonstrated to be safe, it is intended that this parasitised blood bank be used in future CHMI studies to evaluate candidate vaccines. This study will also assess parasite growth, including quantifying the sexual-stage parasites in the blood, as well as the transmission of P. vivax from volunteers to the Anopheline mosquito vectors and the immune responses in primary, secondary and tertiary P. vivax blood-stage challenge, as further secondary aims. Natural immunity to P. vivax is acquired over time, following repeated exposure. Repeated blood-stage challenge would improve understanding of how the human immune response to P. vivax infected is acquired, and how parasite growth changes in a second or third exposure. Repeated challenges can also be used to test if potential vaccine candidates can protect against repeated malaria infection. If proven to be safe and feasible in this study, this will provide a basis for conducting P. vivax blood-stage re-challenge studies for evaluation of new vaccine candidates. The study is funded through The Wellcome Trust and MultiViVax, a European Commission Horizon 2020 funded project.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
19
In the first controlled human malaria infection (CHMI, Phase A), inoculation of parasitised red blood cells will be at three different doses (1 vial, 1:5 dilution, 1:20 dilution). The optimal inoculation dose will then be selected and administered to all participants in each of the second and third CHMI.
Centre for Clinical Vaccinology & Tropical Medicine
Oxford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
Number of Participants With Serious Adverse Events
Time frame: 36 months
Number of Participants Who Developed Infection/Reached Diagnosis Criteria, Used to Select the Optimal Inoculation Dose to Take Forward to Future P. Vivax CHMI Studies Based on a Protocol-specified Algorithm
Choosing the optimal inoculation dose to take forward to future P. vivax CHMI studies will be decided based on the following algorithm: Ideal choice = the first group (2/2 volunteers) to reach diagnosis criteria (within 21 days). N.B. If both volunteers in Group 1 develop infection AND both volunteers in Group 2 (or 3) reliably develop infection within 5 days of Group 1 (and within the 21-day window) then the lowest dose group should be chosen.
Time frame: 3 months
Feasibility of Primary P. Vivax Blood-stage CHMI as Measured by Successful Infection (Development of Detectable Persistent Parasitaemia by Thick Film and qPCR +/- Clinical Symptoms)
Number of participants developing detectablable parasitaemia during primary CHMI with P. vivax (PvW1 clone)
Time frame: 36 months
Safety of Secondary and Tertiary P. Vivax Controlled Blood-stage CHMI as Measured by (S)AE Occurrences
Time frame: 36 months
Immune Response to Primary, Secondary and Tertiary P. Vivax Pre-treatment
As measured by antibody, B cell and T cell responses through experimental injection of P. vivax infected erythrocytes
Time frame: 36 months
Gametocytaemia
As measured by qPCR in primary, secondary and tertiary P. vivax blood-stage CHMI.
Time frame: 36 months
Feasibility of Secondary and Tertiary P. Vivax Controlled Blood-stage CHMI as Measured by Successful Infection (Development of Detectable Persistent Parasitaemia by Thick Film and qPCR +/- Clinical Symptoms)
Time frame: 36 months
Transmissibility of Gametocytes From the Infected Volunteer to Anopheline Mosquito Vector, Which Will be Assesed by Direct Membrane Feeding Assays (DMFA)
Time frame: 36 months
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