March 2006 Report
Summary:
March saw an increase in the malaria case load at the hospital compared to March a year ago, as well as increasing numbers of anopheline mosquitoes being found at all of the local the study sites. This has been attributed to the on-going heavy rains.
Good progress was made both with the three buildings under construction on the USAID-funded building project, as well as on the Hopkins-funded 2 bedroomed duplex.
Drs. Thuma and Mharakurwa traveled to Baltimore to attend the Third International Malaria conference sponsored by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute.
I - General Site Development and Maintenance
Slashing of the ever-growing grass kept workers busy throughout the month, though towards month-end, the rains slowed a bit, allowing the workers to catch up!
Hauling of gravel was carried out to fill the washed out areas of the roads.
II - Construction of Buildings
Construction moved ahead, though no new buildings were begun, due to the lack of new bricks. (These will not be available from local brick-makers until probably May, due to the on-going rains.) By the end of March the two staff houses had roof trusses set, with the one bedroomed duplex nearly ready for trusses, and the two bedroomed duplex flat was ready for the reinforced concrete "ring-beam" to be poured. Internal electrical conduit work had begun on one of the staff houses.
III - Information Technology
The VSAT-based internet system continued to operate reliably. The new smaller Ku-band VSAT dish had still not been commissioned by month's end as originally planned, waiting for internal router and network card interfaces to be sorted out first.
IV - Vehicles/Transport
March field work continued to utilize the vehicles and motorcycles heavily, with the old Toyota Hilux double-cab developing major engine problems in the latter part of the month due to a cracked valve stem. This took it off the road until the engine block can be repaired in Lusaka.
The MIAM driver / mechanic was hospitalized during the latter part of March, creating some pressure on the need for drivers for field work, since two other MIAM employees who have driving licenses were away for much of the month. Plans were discussed to begin training other MIAM employees to drive, so as to have a larger pool of MIAM drivers.
V - Research Activities
The NIH-funded malaria anemia study (V. Gordeuk, PI) now in it's 6th year with a no-funds extension, enrolled severe malaria cases onto the study during much of March. Enrollment was terminated in late March when funds for this study were expended. The enrolled patients will be followed for up to 3 months.
An investigator's meeting for another clinical study, namely a trial of a new pediatric formulation of Coartem, was held in Johannesburg in mid-March, with Drs. Thuma and van Dijk attending. The study protocol has been submitted to the UNZA REC for ethical approval, with the hope that children with malaria can be enrolled in the study yet this malaria season.
Dr. Mharakurwa continued working in the PCR lab on his project on urine and saliva PCR for malaria, and preparations were made for data collection on his Fitness Project. Unfortunately, the R21 application that had been submitted to the NIH to try and obtain funding for the urine / saliva project was not funded, but plans are being made to possibly re-submit.
The GIS project, including entomologic collections and prevalence surveys in the selected grids, was continued in March. During the month, the newly hired GIS manager, Mr. Aniset Kamanga, took up his position and worked hard to bring the GIS files up to date and input the collected data.
A sub-project of Dr. Clive Shiff's to begin mosquito collections in the Namwala area with light traps was initiated in February and continued in March, with many anophelines being trapped.
The on-going field collections of mosquitoes for Dr Norris' and Rebekah Kent's projects also continued in March. Many more anophelines are being caught this year as compared to the previous year.
Work continued on efforts to establish an anopheline colony in the MIAM insectary. While growing larva and rearing the hatched adults, including provision of blood meals has not been a big problem, we have not yet been able to get the anophelines to mate in captivity; thus a perpetual colony has not yet been established!
VI - Personnel
Two new staff members joined MIAM in March - Mr. Ansiet Kamanga as GIS Manager and Miss Fair Hachipumbe as Accounts Officer.
Mr. Christopher Simoloka left on a leave of absence to complete his university degree and obtain registration as a biomedical scientific officer with the Medical Council of Zambia.
VII - Other
Visitors to MIAM in March included the director of the CDC program in Zambia, Dr. Marc Bulterys, as well as three other CDC-Zambia people, Dr. Alwyn Mwinga, Dr. Bereneice Madison and Mr. Mark Shields. They visited in conjunction with a consultation on the possibility of setting up a TB diagnostic and culture facility at Macha. In an effort to broaden the MIAM research base, a possible TB drug trial under Dr. Janneke van Dijk's leadership, is being pursued in collaboration with St. George's Hospital, University of London.
While in the USA in late March, Drs. Mharakurwa and Thuma also visited the Yale School of Medicine, to discuss the on-going collaboration with Dr Ric Bucala on an NIH-sponsored Severe Anemia study which is now enrolling patients at UTH, Lusaka. They also discussed possible specialized training for Dr. Mharakurwa in the lab of Dr. Elena Grigorenko, another collaborator.
In late March, an independent photographer named Helen Bodian, who is also a friend of JHBSPH, arrived at Macha to try and produce a photographic compendium of pictures depicting malaria.