Dataset Information

House Structure Is Associated with Plasmodium falciparum Infection in a Low-Transmission Setting in Southern Zambia.

ABSTRACT: House structure may influence the risk of malaria by affecting mosquito entry and indoor resting. Identification of construction features associated with protective benefits could inform vector control approaches, even in low-transmission settings. We examined the association between house structure and malaria prevalence in a cross-sectional analysis of 2,788 children and adults residing in 866 houses in a low-transmission area of Southern Province, Zambia, over the period 2008-2012. Houses were categorized according to wall (brick/cement block or mud/grass) and roof (metal or grass) material. Malaria was assessed by point-of-care rapid diagnostic test (RDT) for Plasmodium falciparum. We identified 52 RDT-positive individuals residing in 41 houses, indicating an overall prevalence in the sample of 1.9%, ranging from 1.4% to 8.8% among the different house types. Occupants of higher quality houses had reduced odds of P. falciparum malaria compared with those in the lowest quality houses after controlling for bed net use, indoor insecticide spraying, clustering by house, cohabitation with another RDT-positive individual, transmission season, ecologic risk defined as nearest distance to a Strahler-classified third-order stream, education, age, and gender (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.26, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.09-0.73, P = 0.01 for houses with brick/cement block walls and metal roof; OR: 0.22, 95% CI: 0.09-0.52, P < 0.01 for houses with brick/cement block walls and grass roof). Housing improvements offer a promising approach to vector control in low-transmission settings that circumvents the threat posed by insecticide resistance, and may confer a protective benefit of similar magnitude to current vector control strategies.

SUBMITTER: Ippolito MM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5817773 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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House Structure Is Associated with <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> Infection in a Low-Transmission Setting in Southern Zambia.

Ippolito Matthew M MM Searle Kelly M KM Hamapumbu Harry H Shields Timothy M TM Stevenson Jennifer C JC Thuma Philip E PE Moss William J WJ For The Southern Africa International Center Of Excellence For Malaria Research

The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 20170818 5

House structure may influence the risk of malaria by affecting mosquito entry and indoor resting. Identification of construction features associated with protective benefits could inform vector control approaches, even in low-transmission settings. We examined the association between house structure and malaria prevalence in a cross-sectional analysis of 2,788 children and adults residing in 866 houses in a low-transmission area of Southern Province, Zambia, over the period 2008-2012. Houses wer ...[more]

PMID: 28820722

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Project description:BackgroundMalaria is receding in many endemic countries with intervention scale -up against the disease. However, this resilient scourge may persist in low-grade submicroscopic infections among semi-immune members of the population, and be poised for possible resurgence, creating challenges for detection and assessment of intervention impact. Parasite genotyping methods, such as the molecular barcode, can identify specific malaria parasite types being transmitted and allow tracking and evaluation of parasite population structure changes as interventions are applied. This current study demonstrates application of pre-amplification methods for successful detection and genotyping of residual Plasmodium falciparum infections during a dramatic malarial decline.MethodsThe study was a prospective cross-sectional design and based on a 2,000 sq km vicinity of Macha Mission Hospital in southern Zambia. Willing and predominantly asymptomatic residents of all ages were screened for malaria by microscopy during the 2005 and 2008 transmission seasons, with simultaneous collection of dried blood spots (DBS) on filter paper, and extraction of Plasmodium falciparum DNA was performed. Plasmodium falciparum infections were genotyped using a 24 SNP-based molecular barcode assay using real-time PCR. Submicroscopic parasitaemia samples were subjected to pre-amplification using TaqMan PreAmp Master Mix following the manufacturer's instructions before SNP barcode analysis.ResultsThere was a dramatic decline of malaria between 2005 and 2008, and the geometric mean parasite density (95% CI) fell from 704/?L (390-1,271) in 2005 to 39/?L (23-68) in 2008, culminating in a large proportion of submicroscopic infections of which 90% failed to yield ample DNA for standard molecular characterization among 2008 samples. Pre-amplification enabled successful detection and genotyping of 74% of these low-grade reservoir infections, overall, compared to 54% that were detectable before pre-amplification (p <0.0005, n = 84). Furthermore, nine samples negative for parasites by microscopy and standard quantitative PCR amplification were positive after pre-amplification.ConclusionsPre-amplification allows analysis of an otherwise undetectable parasite population and may be instrumental for parasites identification, tracking and assessing the impact of interventions on parasite populations during malaria control and elimination programmes when parasitaemia is expected to decline to submicroscopic levels.

Project description:BackgroundGenomic surveillance is crucial for monitoring malaria transmission and understanding parasite adaptation to interventions. Zambia lacks prior nationwide efforts in malaria genomic surveillance among African countries.MethodsWe conducted genomic surveillance of Plasmodium falciparum parasites from the 2018 Malaria Indicator Survey in Zambia, a nationally representative household survey of children under five years of age. We whole-genome sequenced and analyzed 241 P. falciparum genomes from regions with varying levels of malaria transmission across Zambia and estimated genetic metrics that are informative about transmission intensity, genetic relatedness between parasites, and selection.ResultsWe provide genomic evidence of widespread within-host polygenomic infections, regardless of epidemiological characteristics, underscoring the extensive and ongoing endemic malaria transmission in Zambia. Our analysis reveals country-level clustering of parasites from Zambia and neighboring regions, with distinct separation in West Africa. Within Zambia, identity by descent (IBD) relatedness analysis uncovers local spatial clustering and rare cases of long-distance sharing of closely related parasite pairs. Genomic regions with large shared IBD segments and strong positive selection signatures implicate genes involved in sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and artemisinin combination therapies drug resistance, but no signature related to chloroquine resistance. Furthermore, differences in selection signatures, including drug resistance loci, are observed between eastern and western Zambian parasite populations, suggesting variable transmission intensity and ongoing drug pressure.ConclusionsOur findings enhance our understanding of nationwide P. falciparum transmission in Zambia, establishing a baseline for analyzing parasite genetic metrics as they vary over time and space. These insights highlight the urgency of strengthening malaria control programs and surveillance of antimalarial drug resistance.

Project description:BACKGROUND: The population structure of the causative agents of human malaria, Plasmodium sp., including the most serious agent Plasmodium falciparum, depends on the local epidemiological and demographic situations, such as the incidence of infected people, the vector transmission intensity and migration of inhabitants (i.e. exchange between sites). Analysing the structure of P. falciparum populations at a large scale, such as continents, or with markers that are subject to non-neutral selection, can lead to a masking and misunderstanding of the effective process of transmission. Thus, knowledge of the genetic structure and organization of P. falciparum populations in a particular area with neutral genetic markers is needed to understand which epidemiological factors should be targeted for disease control. Limited reports are available on the population genetic diversity and structure of P. falciparum in Thailand, and this is of particular concern at the Thai-Myanmar and Thai-Cambodian borders, where there is a reported high resistance to anti-malarial drugs, for example mefloquine, with little understanding of its potential gene flow. METHODS: The diversity and genetic differentiation of P. falciparum populations were analysed using 12 polymorphic apparently neutral microsatellite loci distributed on eight of the 14 different chromosomes. Samples were collected from seven provinces in the western, eastern and southern parts of Thailand. RESULTS: A strong difference in the nuclear genetic structure was observed between most of the assayed populations. The genetic diversity was comparable to the intermediate level observed in low P. falciparum transmission areas (average HS = 0.65 +/- 0.17), where the lowest is observed in South America and the highest in Africa. However, uniquely the Yala province, had only a single multilocus genotype present in all samples, leading to a strong geographic differentiation when compared to the other Thai populations during this study. Comparison of the genetic structure of P. falciparum populations in Thailand with those in the French Guyana, Congo and Cameroon revealed a significant genetic differentiation between all of them, except the two African countries, whilst the genetic variability of P. falciparum amongst countries showed overlapping distributions. CONCLUSION: Plasmodium falciparum shows genetically structured populations across local areas of Thailand. Although Thailand is considered to be a low transmission area, a relatively high level of genetic diversity and no linkage disequilibrium was found in five of the studied areas, the exception being the Yala province (Southern peninsular Thailand), where a clonal population structure was revealed and in Kanchanaburi province (Western Thailand). This finding is particularly relevant in the context of malaria control, because it could help in understanding the special dynamics of parasite populations in areas with different histories of, and exposure to, drug regimens.

Project description:Background: Central to the successful elimination of Plasmodium falciparum malaria, are tests with superior capability of diagnosing low-density parasitaemias. Empirical evidence on the performance of the commonly available diagnostics (light microscopy (LM), rapid diagnostic tests (RDT) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)) is needed to better inform case management and surveillance activities within primary health care settings where elimination of falciparum malaria is targeted. The objective of this study was to estimate the sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) and predictive values of LM, RDT and PCR tests for P. falciparum infection in children, while evaluating the effect of specific covariates on the accuracy of the tests. Methods: The study enrolled 1,563 children presenting with fever (axillary temperature ≥ 37.5 0C) to the Ngerenya dispensary, Kilifi County between March and December 2014. A Bayesian latent class model (BLCM) was fitted to the participants' diagnostic data obtained from blood samples that were screened for the presence of P. falciparum using the three tests. Results: The PCR assay registered a higher Se (97.6% [92.0; 99.7]) than LM (84.0% [74.8; 91.0]) but similar to RDT (92.2% [84.4; 97.0]). However, the assay showed a similar Sp (98.9% [98.2; 99.4]) to both RDT (99.4% [98.9; 99.7]) and LM (99.5% [99.0; 99.8]). Regarding predictive values, the tests yielded statistically similar estimates of positive and negative predictive values (PPV and NPV). A serial interpretation of the results of RDT and LM raised the PPVs and NPVs to >98%. Conclusions: LM and RDT afford high Se and Sp in symptomatic care-seeking children in this low P. falciparum prevalence setting. A serial combination of the tests assures high PPV and NPV estimates. These elements, coupled with the wide deployment and affordability of the tests, lend the tests useful for guiding clinical care and surveillance activities for P. falciparum within elimination settings.

Dataset Information

House Structure Is Associated with Plasmodium falciparum Infection in a Low-Transmission Setting in Southern Zambia.

Publications

House Structure Is Associated with <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i> Infection in a Low-Transmission Setting in Southern Zambia.

Similar Datasets

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