ANAIS Vol 16 2017- 4.º Congresso Nacional de Medicina Tropical - Edição comemorativa dos 115 Anos do IHMT

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A n a i s d o I HM T
elimination using antibody data generated from the
new multiplex platforms.Statistical modeling is also an
important piece of this complex puzzle.Thus, this ses-
sion was accompanied by other oral presentations on
studies where geospatial and modelling tools have been
used in different contexts: in Brazil “Local epidemiology
and spatial analysis of malaria transmission in the Brazilian
Amazon” [2] by Canelas T. et al. (Univ. S. Paulo, et al.);
Equatorial Guinea: “Malaria determining risk factors at the
household level in two rural villages of mainland Equatorial
Guinea” [2] by Guerra M. et al. (IHMT)); and in Angola
where a project on artificial intelligence underway was
presented by Maia al. (IHMT) “Leveraging artificial
intelligence to improve malaria epidemics’ response” [2].(arti-
cle published in page 35 of this special issue).
There was also a poster relating urbanization and malaria
in the capital cities of Angola and Guinea-Bissau entitled
“Mapping urban land use changes in the cities of Luanda and
Bissau using time stacks of Landsat satellite imagery” [2] by C.
Capinha and S. Soares from GHTM/IHMT.
In the afternoon,the focus was on “hard” social scienc-
es perspective. Elisa Sicuri brought forward a general
view on “The economic challenges and benefits of eliminating
malaria” [2]. She presented a cost effectiveness analysis
of malaria control and elimination out of the Mozam-
bique context. She argued that malaria elimination is
not cost effective in the short term because it implies
strong financial efforts, which are difficult to harmo-
nize with political cycles and with competing problems
and interests. Additionally, it is necessary to consider
the risks associated with malaria elimination activities
as policy makers need to balance it with other priori-
ties, and poverty related diseases, considering an eq-
uity approach.This talk noted however, that the benefits
associated with malaria elimination go beyond health,
and include tourism, economic growth and school out-
comes. The example of a current malaria elimination
initiative in a district of Southern Mozambique was re-
ported. An example from the private sector “Effective-
ness of private sector malaria control: the case of sugarcane
workers in southern Mozambique” [2]was also presented by
Brew J. (ISGlobal, et al.).
It was also presented an historical summary of the pre-
elimination scenario of malaria in Portugal of the be-
ginning of the 20th century from the interviews made
to real time witnesses by Saavedra M.(Univ.York, UK)
“Stories from the past and everyday experiences of malaria:
Portugal, 1930-1960” [2] (article published in page 51 of
this special issue).
A longitudinal view on the case of Angola was made
available via the poster titled “Malaria control strategies
in Angola- 1980-2015- a history unfolding”[2] by J. Birck
and J.Varanda (Univ. Coimbra).
Later, the focus of the conference shifted back to the
mosquito vector. A. dela Torre gave a detailed histori-
cal perspective on the genetic and ecological diversity
of the Anopheles Africa. She identified recent hu-
man and environmental changes like urbanization and
deforestation and their effects in malaria transmission
and control: “Impact of genetic and bio-ecological heteroge-
neities of mosquito vectors on malaria transmission and con-
trol in Africa: future perspectives in context of elimination
and growing urbanization”[2].The session was closed by
a presentation tackling the Angolan case presented by
F. Fortes (Programa Nacional de Controlo da Malária),
titled “Human antibody responses to the Anopheles salivary
gSG6-P1 peptide: a novel immuno-epidemiological biomark-
er tool for evaluating the efficacy of malaria vector control
method”[2].
This thematic session included the participation of
four posters: Faleiro B. et al. (ISA, GHTM)“Molecular
evidence of positive selection in transglutaminases of Anoph-
eles gambiae”[2].; Gulia-Nuss M. (Univ. Nevada, USA)
“A palatable insecticide” [2].; Rocha H and Silveira H.
(GHTM) “Plasmodium bergheisporozoites detection, differen-
tiation and quantification during sporogonic cycle in Anoph-
eles tissues using flow cytometer approach”[2].; Barata J. and
Torrejon E. et al. (GHTMet al.) “Molecular detection of
plasmodium in field collected Anopheles samples from Guinea
Bissau (1993- 2010)”[2].
Second day
The focus of attention turned to the Malaria parasite
Plasmodium sp. with a future perspective on new diag-
nostic and elimination tools.
Rhoel R. Dinglasan gave the talk entitled “Beyond 2020:
Pushing the envelope of malaria elimination tools”. He dis-
cussed the progress and pitfalls of two pioneering in-
terventions: 1) a prototype saliva-based rapid test for
detecting subclinical malaria parasite carriers through a
novel parasite biomarker, 2) a universal malaria trans-
mission-blocking vaccine that targets a midgut-surface
antigen of the parasite’s mosquito vector.
This session was complemented by three oral commu-
nications:
Azevedo R. and Markovic al (IMM, Leiden Univ.)
“A bioluminescence method for in vitro screening of Plasmodi-
um transmission-blocking compounds”[2]; Fonseca A. et al.
(ISIGlobal, et al.) “Pregnancy-specific serology to monitor
malaria transmission in elimination”[2]; Fortes et al. (IPST,
Coimbra) “Malaria serology in blood donors – persistence of
antibodies in ex-residents from endemic countries”[2].
This thematic session focused on the malaria parasite
included the participation of two posters:
Pena A. et al. (IMM, et al.) “Plasmodiumshort N-Glycans