This project is funded by the European Union
Increasing Prevention and Treatment of TB
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London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
The Karonga Prevention Study (KPS) - Malawi
The Karonga Prevention Study (KPS) is a large epidemiological research project covering the whole of Karonga District, a rural area in northern Malawi, and associated closely with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The project originated in 1979 as a cohort study of leprosy, funded primarily by the British Leprosy Relief Association (LEPRA). It assumed responsibility for tuberculosis diagnosis and outpatient care from 1982, and became a large WHO-supported vaccine trial in 1986, incorporating studies of HIV and skin diseases other than leprosy.
The trial revealed that BCG vaccine imparts considerable protection against leprosy in this population, but none against tuberculosis. This led to the initiation of a broad (primarily Wellcome Trust supported) programme of research concentrating upon genetical and immunological factors which determine natural and vaccine-derived protection against tuberculosis and leprosy, upon the detailed epidemiology of tuberculosis, upon the patterns, impact and control of HIV, upon the development of immune responsiveness in infants, and extending to studies of helminths.
A demographic surveillance system was initiated in 2002, and is now providing a platform for studies of HIV epidemiology, of antiretroviral therapy, and of S pneumoniae epidemiology and pneumococcal vaccines.
Staff
- Professor Hazel Dockrell
- Dr Neil French
- Mr Donald Boag
- Ms Chifundo Kalizang'oma
- Themba Longwe
- Nimrod Mwaungulu
- Kondwani Mzumara
- Kondwani Majimaji
- Michael Mwenibabu
- Prince Nkhosa Mwafulirwa
- Glyn Msiska
- Lifted Sichali
Last updated: 25th June 2008