Vaccines: A Climate Shield for Malaria Control

A new study reveals that tropical cyclones in Madagascar trigger significant surges in malaria cases, especially among children, as severe weather disrupts ongoing control measures (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Vaccination to mitigate climate-driven disruptions to malaria control in Madagascar

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Climate-Resilient Malaria Control

Researchers found that these climate-driven interruptions create critical gaps in malaria prevention, increasing vulnerability in affected communities. However, the study offers hope: the recent introduction of long-lasting malaria vaccines shows strong potential to bridge these gaps, even when traditional interventions falter. The findings highlight an urgent need for climate-resilient malaria control strategies, ensuring protection for populations in regions increasingly threatened by extreme weather events.

Malaria, already a persistent global health challenge, poses new threats from climate change, not only through rising temperatures that shift mosquito dynamics but also via extreme weather events like tropical cyclones.

Such disasters can severely disrupt public health infrastructure, limit access to malaria prevention and treatment, and increase infection risk, especially in high-burden regions where continuity of care and malaria control is critical.

However, despite concerns, data on how climate-related disruptions affect malaria control remain scarce. Madagascar – a country with a high malaria burden – is increasingly exposed to the effects of climate change, particularly through the growing frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones, which have repeatedly triggered severe damage to healthcare infrastructure.

Using a longitudinal cohort study of 500 households in Madagascar’s Mananjary district, Benjamin Rice and colleagues analyzed 20,718 observations of malaria infection before and after cyclones Batsirai (2022) and Freddy (2023). This allowed the authors to evaluate how well various malaria interventions performed given the strain of extreme weather events.

Tropical Cyclones in Madagascar Boost Malaria Risk

According to the findings, tropical cyclones in Madagascar significantly elevate the risk of malaria infection and reinfection by disrupting essential public health interventions, including malaria prevention and treatment programs.

In the months following cyclones, malaria infection surged, particularly in children: up to half of school-age children and over a third of younger children were infected in high-transmission areas.

By modeling various control strategies, the authors found that the recently introduced malaria vaccines, which offer up to 10 months of protection, could significantly reduce symptomatic infections and help sustain malaria infection control during climate-related intervention gaps.

Despite this, Rice et al. note that malaria vaccines alone are insufficient to stop transmission, adding that layered strategies combining vaccines, drug-based prevention, and traditional tools like bed nets are essential, especially in high-transmission areas where malaria remains persistent.

Reference:

1. Vaccination to mitigate climate-driven disruptions to malaria control in Madagascar - (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adp5365)

Source-Eurekalert