Dataset Information

Malaria rapid diagnostic tests reliably detect asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infections in school-aged children that are infectious to mosquitoes.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Asymptomatic malaria infections (Plasmodium falciparum) are common in school-aged children and represent a disease transmission reservoir as they are potentially infectious to mosquitoes. To detect and treat such infections, convenient, rapid and reliable diagnostic tools are needed. In this study, malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDT), light microscopy (LM) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were used to evaluate their performance detecting asymptomatic malaria infections that are infectious to mosquitoes.

Methods

One hundred seventy asymptomatic school-aged children (6-14 years old) from the Bagamoyo district in Tanzania were screened for Plasmodium spp. infections using mRDT (SD BIOLINE), LM and qPCR. In addition, gametocytes were detected using reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) for all qPCR-positive children. Venous blood from all P. falciparum positive children was fed to female Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto mosquitoes via direct membrane feeding assays (DMFAs) after serum replacement. Mosquitoes were dissected for oocyst infections on day 8 post-infection.

Results

The P. falciparum prevalence in study participants was 31.7% by qPCR, 18.2% by mRDT and 9.4% by LM. Approximately one-third (31.2%) of asymptomatic malaria infections were infectious to mosquitoes in DMFAs. In total, 297 infected mosquitoes were recorded after dissections, from which 94.9% (282/297) were derived from infections detected by mRDT and 5.1% (15/297) from subpatent mRDT infections.

Conclusion

The mRDT can be used reliably to detect children carrying gametocyte densities sufficient to infect high numbers of mosquitoes. Subpatent mRDT infections contributed marginally to the pool of oocyts-infected mosquitoes.

SUBMITTER: Hofer LM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10314504 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Malaria rapid diagnostic tests reliably detect asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infections in school-aged children that are infectious to mosquitoes.

Hofer Lorenz M LM Kweyamba Prisca A PA Sayi Rajabu M RM Chabo Mohamed S MS Maitra Sonali L SL Moore Sarah J SJ Tambwe Mgeni M MM

Parasites & vectors 20230630 1

<h4>Background</h4>Asymptomatic malaria infections (Plasmodium falciparum) are common in school-aged children and represent a disease transmission reservoir as they are potentially infectious to mosquitoes. To detect and treat such infections, convenient, rapid and reliable diagnostic tools are needed. In this study, malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDT), light microscopy (LM) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were used to evaluate their performance detecting asymptomatic malaria ...[more]

PMID: 37391770

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Dataset Information

Malaria rapid diagnostic tests reliably detect asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infections in school-aged children that are infectious to mosquitoes.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Malaria rapid diagnostic tests reliably detect asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum infections in school-aged children that are infectious to mosquitoes.

Similar Datasets

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