The Non-specific Effects of Vaccination Related to Mortality and Morbidity in Nanoro Health and Demographic Surveillance System Cohort

A cross sectional study among healthy participants randomly selected from the population living in the Nanoro HDSS cohort to (a) study the relation between vaccination and morbidity (including hemoglobin levels, subclinical malaria and stunting) (b) perform hemocytometry in order to determine reference values for that population and estimate the prevalence and causes of anemia, using reference values from other Sub-Sahara Africa countries and industrialized countries.

In a cross sectional study among a healthy population in the Nanoro HDSS cohort, hemocytometry will be performed in order to define normal values for that population. In addition, hemoglobin levels can be related to the presence of iron deficiency, thalassemia and malaria and be corrected for important confounding factors, such as the family income, family composition, distance to a healthcare center and vaccination status. This study will allow to assess simultaneously the normal range of hemoglobin values, the prevalence of (different causes of) anemia, the prevalence of subclinical malaria parasitemia, as well as the influence of (timepoint of) vaccination on all these issues. It is hypothized that early vaccination with live attenuated vaccines has a protective effect against malaria and other severe infectious diseases and will result in a better nutritional status, a higher hemoglobin level and a higher threshold of subclinical parasitemia. The protective effect of early vaccination with live attenuated vaccines may be due to the long-term modulation of the immune system through epigenetic changes causing a right balance between the pro- and anti-inflammatory responses. Such balance can be determined by ex-vivo stimulation of whole blood by a variety of stimuli, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis and lipopolysaccharide from Escherichia coli, followed by measurement of ex vivo cytokine production. Previous studies among healthy volunteers in the Netherlands have shown that BCG is indeed capable to induce epigenetic changes and influence immune response by influencing various pathways including through genetic variations in mTOR, HK2, PFKP, GLS, and GLUD1/2 (ref).

The new Sysmex analysers are not only capable to determine hemocytometry, but are at the same time capable to detect malaria parasites directly. Interestingly, not only the asexual stages of the parasites are detected but the gametocytes as well. This may be very important as gametocyte carriers are known to play a crucial role in malaria transmission. Gametocytes are presently detected by light microscopy or by PCR, however these techniques are limited; the sensitivity of light microscopy is relatively low and PCR is too complex to perform in most rural sub-Saharan African settings. The new Sysmex hematology analysers are easy to operate at low costs and may as such become an important tool for malaria elimination programs. No data are presently available about gametocyte density in Burkina Faso in a large population, nor is the lower level of detection of gametocytes using the sysmex analyzers known.

This research has four main objectives :

1. To perform hemocytometry among a healthy rural Burkina Faso population selected from the Nanoro HDSS cohort, in order to determine reference values for that population.
2. To perform hemocytometry among a healthy rural Burkina Faso population selected from the Nanoro HDSS cohort, in order to estimate the prevalence and causes of anemia, using reference values from other Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) countries and industrialized countries.
3. To study the relation between (timepoint of) vaccination and morbidity (including hemoglobin levels, subclinical malaria, bacterial infection and stunting) among a healthy rural Burkina Faso population selected from the Nanoro HDSS cohort. For this objective the population will be stratified by birth cohort.
4. To perform ex-vivo whole blood stimulation to assess differences in immune response between patientgroups with a different vaccination status, within a healthy rural Burkina Faso population selected from the Nanoro HDSS cohort