Random distribution of mixed species malaria infections in Papua New Guinea.

Mehlotra, Rajeev K.; Lorry, Kerry; Kastens, Will; Miller, Stephanie M.; Alpers, Michael P.; Bockarie, Moses J.; Kazura, James W.; Zimmerman, Peter A.

doi:10.4269/ajtmh.2000.62.225

Cited by 118 publications

(135 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…In a series of studies from PNG that have combined LM and molecular diagnostics [29,31,32], we have found that molecular methods consistently detected significantly increased prevalence of all four malaria species of humans, with the largest increases in P. malariae and P. ovale. In these studies from three different PNG populations, the prevalence of P. falciparum and P. vivax increased between 1.6 and 3.0-fold and 2.1 and 3.4-fold, respectively, and a 2.6 to 10.9-fold increase in P. malariae prevalence was observed (LM:…”

Section: Improved Diagnosis Of P Malariae and P Ovale Infections Bymentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Detection of P. ovale by LM ranged from 0 to 0.3%, whereas LDR-FMA detected P. ovale infection in 5.2 to 15.6% of the study subjects. Overall, the majority of P. malariae and P. ovale diagnoses have been observed in the context of mixed infections with P. falciparum and/or P. vivax, including several quadruple infections [29,31,32]. Therefore, it is likely that P. malariae, P. ovale and mixed species infections are substantially more common in PNG than previously thought.…”

Section: Improved Diagnosis Of P Malariae and P Ovale Infections Bymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, mixed infections are either randomly distributed [31,32] or there might be a short age of LM-detected mixed infections [28]. Apart from differences in a wide range of ecological factors (such as climate and Anopheline vector species), these contrasting observations in P. malariae epidemiology could be linked to the virtual absence of Plasmodium vivax infections in many African populations because of the lack of the Duffy blood-group-antigen, which P. vivax requires to invade red blood cells [33].…”

Section: Variation In Parasite Prevalencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Improved Diagnosis Of P Malariae and P Ovale Infections Bymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These assays enable detection of the four Plasmodium parasite species that infect humans at densities ~100 times lower than the limit of LM detection [47] and have evolved from simple species-specific amplification strategies to multiplex approaches that incorporate semiquantitative assessments [31,[49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56]. We have greatly extended the potential use of PCR diagnosis for a wide range of epidemiological studies through our recent efforts to develop a ligase detection reaction fluorescent microsphere assay (LDR-FMA) [52,57] to evaluate all four malaria parasites of humans in a single-well multiplex format.In a series of studies from PNG that have combined LM and molecular diagnostics [29,31,32], we have found that molecular methods consistently detected significantly increased prevalence of all four malaria species of humans, with the largest increases in P. malariae and P. ovale. In these studies from three different PNG populations, the prevalence of P. falciparum and P. vivax increased between 1.6 and 3.0-fold and 2.1 and 3.4-fold, respectively, and a 2.6 to 10.9-fold increase in P. malariae prevalence was observed (LM:…”

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confidence: 99%

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Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale – the ‘bashful’ malaria parasites

Müeller

Zimmerman

Reeder

2007

Trends in Parasitology

270

245

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Although Plasmodium malariae was first described as an infectious disease of humans by Golgi in 1886 and Plasmodium ovale identified by Stevens in 1922, there are still large gaps in our knowledge of the importance of these infections as causes of malaria in different parts of the world. They have traditionally been thought of as mild illnesses that are caused by rare and, in case of P. ovale, short-lived parasites. However, recent advances in sensitive PCR diagnosis are causing a re-evaluation of this assumption. Low-level infection seems to be common across malaria-endemic areas, often as complex mixed infections. The potential interactions of P. malariae and P. ovale with Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax might explain some basic questions of malaria epidemiology, and understanding these interactions could have an important influence on the deployment of interventions such as malaria vaccines. Geographical distributionAlthough distribution of Plasmodium malariae infection is reported as being patchy, it has been observed in all major malaria-endemic regions of the world [1]. P. malariae infections are most common in sub-Saharan Africa and the southwest Pacific, where age-specific prevalence in mass blood surveys have exceeded 15-30% [2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. By contrast, when P. malariae has been detected in malaria-endemic regions of Asia [9][10][11][12], the Middle East [13], South America [14] and Central America [15], it is observed as an infrequent infection, with blood-smear light microscopy (LM) prevalence rarely exceeding 1-2%. Much higher levels of infection were, however, found in montagnard refugees from the Cambodian-Vietnamese border [16]. In South America, P. malariae is thought to be a zoonotic infection because the genetically identical Plasmodium brasilianum infects new-world monkeys [17] and both monkeys and humans in endemic areas show high levels of seropositivity to P. malariae and P. brasilianum antigens [18].Plasmodium ovale was thought to have a much more limited distribution, with endemic transmission traditionally described as being limited to areas of tropical Africa, New Guinea, the eastern parts of Indonesia and the Philippines [19,20]. Infections with P. ovale, however, have also been reported in the Middle East [13], the Indian subcontinent [21] and different parts of Southeast Asia [11,22,23]. In West Africa (and to a lesser extent Central Africa), age specific LM prevalence of >10% have been observed [3,6] places where P. ovale is observed, it is relatively uncommon and its prevalence (as detected by LM) rarely exceeds 3-5% [22,[24][25][26].Indepth descriptions of the epidemiology of both infections based upon LM data are, thus, restricted almost exclusively to highly endemic areas in Africa and the Southwest Pacific. Detailed epidemiological studies from South America and Asia are lacking. Variation in parasite prevalenceIn West Africa, P. malariae prevalence has been reported to peak at ages similar to those of P. falciparum (i.e. in children under ten years of...

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Section: Improved Diagnosis Of P Malariae and P Ovale Infections Bymentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Improved Diagnosis Of P Malariae and P Ovale Infections Bymentioning

confidence: 99%