Indigenous Plasmodium malariae Infection in an Endemic Population at the Thai-Myanmar Border.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Yorsaeng R
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6493936 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Indigenous <i>Plasmodium malariae</i> Infection in an Endemic Population at the Thai-Myanmar Border.
Yorsaeng Ritthideach R Saeseu Teerawat T Chotivanich Kesinee K Felger Ingrid I Wampfler Rahel R Cui Liwang L Mueller Ivo I Sattabongkot Jetsumon J Nguitragool Wang W
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene 20190501 5
<i>Plasmodium malariae</i> is a neglected malaria parasite. It has wide geographic distribution and, although often associated with mild malaria, is linked to a high burden of anemia and nephrotic syndromes. Here, we report a cohort study conducted in the Kanchanaburi Province of Thailand during May 2013-June 2014 in which <i>P. malariae</i> infection was detected. Of the 812 study participants, two were found to be infected with <i>P. malariae</i>. One had an infection that led to acute malaria ...[more]
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Project description:Malaria is a worldwide public health problem; parasites from the genus Plasmodium are the aetiological agent for this disease. The parasites are mostly diagnosed by conventional microscopy-based techniques; however, their limitations have led to under-registering the reported prevalence of Plasmodium species. This study has thus been aimed at evaluating the infection and coinfection prevalence of 3 species of Plasmodium spp., in an area of the Colombian Amazon region. Blood samples were taken from 671 symptomatic patients by skin puncture; a nested PCR amplifying the 18S ssRNA region was used on all samples to determine the presence of P. vivax, P. malariae and P. falciparum. Statistical analysis determined infection and coinfection frequency; the association between infection and different factors was established. The results showed that P. vivax was the species having the greatest frequency in the study population (61.4%), followed by P. malariae (43.8%) and P. falciparum (11.8%). The study revealed that 35.8% of the population had coinfection, the P. vivax/P. malariae combination occurring most frequently (28.3%); factors such as age, geographical origin and clinical manifestations were found to be associated with triple-infection. The prevalence reported in this study differed from previous studies in Colombia; the results suggest that diagnosis using conventional techniques could be giving rise to underestimating some Plasmodium spp. species having high circulation rates in Colombia (particularly in the Colombian Amazon region). The present study's results revealed a high prevalence of P. malariae and mixed infections in the population being studied. The results provide relevant information which should facilitate updating the epidemiological panorama and species' distribution so as to include control, prevention and follow-up measures.
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