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Review
. 2023 Jun;75(3):207-214.
doi: 10.1007/s00251-023-01306-8. Epub 2023 Apr 21.

Impact of high human genetic diversity in Africa on immunogenicity and efficacy of RTS,S/AS01 vaccine

Stephen Tukwasibwe  1   2   3 , Gerald Mboowa  4 , Ivan Sserwadda  4 , Joaniter I Nankabirwa  5 , Emmanuel Arinaitwe  5 , Isaac Ssewanyana  5 , Yoweri Taremwa  5 , Gerald Tumusiime  6 , Moses R Kamya  5   7 , Prasanna Jagannathan  8 , Annettee Nakimuli  7
Affiliations
Review

Impact of high human genetic diversity in Africa on immunogenicity and efficacy of RTS,S/AS01 vaccine

Stephen Tukwasibwe et al. Immunogenetics. 2023 Jun.

Abstract

In modern medicine, vaccination is one of the most effective public health strategies to prevent infectious diseases. Indisputably, vaccines have saved millions of lives by reducing the burden of many serious infections such as polio, tuberculosis, measles, pneumonia, and tetanus. Despite the recent recommendation by the World Health Organization (WHO) to roll out RTS,S/AS01, this malaria vaccine still faces major challenges of variability in its efficacy partly due to high genetic variation in humans and malaria parasites. Immune responses to malaria vary between individuals and populations. Human genetic variation in immune system genes is the probable cause for this heterogeneity. In this review, we will focus on human genetic factors that determine variable responses to vaccination and how variation in immune system genes affect the immunogenicity and efficacy of the RTS,S/AS01 vaccine.

Keywords: Africa; Genetic variation; Malaria; RTS,S/AS01 vaccine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

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