Assessing Vaccine Effectiveness of R21/Matrix-M Across Malaria Transmission Settings (AVERT)

Overview

The AVERT study is a prospective observational test-negative case control study evaluating the real-world effectiveness of the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine among children younger than 5 years in Burkina Faso and Uganda. Children who seek outpatient care with suspected malaria and are eligible for the national R21/Matrix-M vaccination program will be enrolled. Malaria infection will be determined by blood smear microscopy. Children with a positive microscopy result will be classified as cases and children with a negative result as controls. Vaccination history, including the number and timing of doses, will be obtained primarily from vaccination cards or other written records. Vaccine effectiveness will be estimated by comparing the odds of vaccination among cases and controls.

R21/Matrix-M has been introduced through national immunization programs, but its effectiveness under routine conditions may differ from efficacy observed in clinical trials because children may receive different numbers of doses, doses may be delayed, protection may wane, and malaria transmission and other prevention measures vary across settings. AVERT will use a prospective test-negative case-control design at approximately 22 outpatient health facilities in moderate- to high-transmission areas of Burkina Faso and Uganda. Consecutive children younger than 5 years who meet country definitions for suspected malaria, are eligible for R21/Matrix-M vaccination, and have caregiver consent will be enrolled. All participants will undergo malaria testing as part of routine care, with study blood smear microscopy used to assign case or control status. A structured caregiver questionnaire will collect demographic, clinical, residential, socioeconomic, health-care access, and malaria-prevention information. R21/Matrix-M dose number and vaccination dates will be verified primarily from vaccination cards, individual health records, or facility vaccination registers. Cases and controls will be matched, when feasible, by geographic area and calendar time. Conditional or standard logistic regression will estimate adjusted odds ratios comparing vaccinated and unvaccinated children, and vaccine effectiveness will be calculated as (1 - adjusted odds ratio) x 100%. Analyses will be conducted separately by country and will assess effectiveness by dose, time since vaccination, dose spacing, transmission intensity, sex, and use of seasonal malaria chemoprevention, insecticide-treated nets, and indoor residual spraying. A health-system-perspective economic evaluation will estimate incremental cost per uncomplicated clinical malaria case averted.