Potential effect modification of RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine efficacy by household socio-economic status

Background In the phase III RTS,S /AS01 trial, significant heterogeneity in efficacy of the vaccine across study sites was seen. Question on whether variations in socio – economic status (SES) of participant contributed to the heterogeinity of the vaccine efficacy (VE) remains unknown. Methods Data from the Phase III RTS,S /AS01 trial in children aged 5–17 months in Kintampo were re-analysed. SES of each child was derived from the Kintampo Health and Demographic Surveillance System, using principal component analysis of household assets. Extended Cox regression was used to estimate the interaction between RTS,S/AS01 VE and household SES. Results Protective efficacy of the RTS,S/AS0 vaccine significantly varied by participant’s household SES, thus increase in household SES was associated with an increase in protective efficacy ( P -value = 0.0041). Effect modification persisted after adjusting for age at first vaccination, gender, distance from community to the health facility, child’s haemoglobin level, household size, place of residence and mothers’ educational level. Conclusion Household SES may be a proxy for malaria transmission intensity. The study showed a significant modification of the RTS,S/AS01 malaria vaccine efficacy by the different levels of child’s household socio – economic status. Trial registration Efficacy of GSK Biologicals’ candidate malaria vaccine (25049) against malaria disease in infants and children in Africa. NCT00866619 prospectively registered on 20 March 2009.