A 15-year study in Kilifi County has revealed that children exposed to malaria early in life suffer long-term immune suppression, which persists into adolescence. Conducted by researchers from KEMRI-Wellcome Trust and international partners, the study tracked nearly 2,000 children from two villages — Ngerenya and Junju — with differing malaria transmission rates.
Children from Junju, where malaria remained prevalent, consistently showed lower antibody responses to various diseases and vaccines, even years after malaria exposure ended. In contrast, children from Ngerenya, where malaria transmission declined in the early 2000s, had stronger immune responses.
Researchers found that early malaria exposure seems to reprogram the immune system to tolerate rather than fight infections, reducing protection not only against malaria but also other diseases such as measles, influenza, herpes, and EBV. This effect remained evident even within Ngerenya among those who had early malaria.
The findings help explain why vaccines may be less effective in malaria-endemic areas and suggest that altered vaccine schedules or booster doses could benefit affected children. The research, titled “A natural experiment in Kenya reveals durable immunosuppressive effects of early childhood malaria,” is available on Medrixv.
