To determine the duration and complexity of naturally acquired Plasmodium falciparum infections in small children, a longitudinal cohort study of 143 newborns was conducted in coastal Ghana. On average, children experienced 2 episodes of infection in their first 2 years of life, the median duration of an asymptomatic infection was <4 weeks, and estimates of the mean number of parasite genotypes...

Antimalarial drugs will be essential tools at all stages of malaria elimination along the path towards eradication, including the early control or "attack" phase to drive down transmission and the later stages of maintaining interruption of transmission, preventing reintroduction of malaria, and eliminating the last residual foci of infection. Drugs will continue to be used to treat acute malar...

The present investigation was undertaken to study the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria in the tribal village Khobramendha of Gadchiroli district in Maharashtra state. Out of a total of 210 samples collected, nine tested positive (4.28%) for asymptomatic malaria. Six were positive for P. falciparum (66.6%) and three for P. vivax (33.3%). Not a single case of mixed infection was detected. The m...

The cause of the anemia associated with chronic, intermittent, asymptomatic, low-level parasitemia in children in malaria-endemic endemic areas is not well understood. Nitric oxide (NO) decreases erythropoiesis, and it is likely an important mediator of anemia of chronic disease. Production of NO is decreased in acute uncomplicated and cerebral malaria, but it is increased in asymptomatic Tanza...

Thirty adult patients with cerebral malaria (CM) were recruited for this study. Two clinical groups were used as controls: those with mild malaria (n = 20) and asymptomatic volunteers (n = 20). Thick and thin blood smears were examined for detection of Plasmodium falciparum and estimating infection intensity. A nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using allele-specific primers for merozoite s...

Erhabor et al1 describe the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria in a unique study population of truck drivers, who have otherwise featured in medical literature for risky sexual behaviour and associated high HIV prevalence rates2. Their findings suggest that limited access to adequate health care facilities and preventative strategies exposes truck drivers to infection with plasmodium facliparum...

BACKGROUND In malaria-endemic countries, large proportions of individuals infected with Plasmodium falciparum are asymptomatic and constitute a reservoir of parasites for infection of newly hatched mosquitoes. METHODS Two studies were run in parallel in Burkina Faso to evaluate the impact of systematic identification and treatment of asymptomatic carriers of P. falciparum, detected by rapid d...

BACKGROUND In malaria-endemic areas, a proportion of individuals becomes chronic carriers of parasites with few or no clinical signs. There is little information on cellular immune responses in asymptomatic parasite carriers. METHODS In 80 schoolchildren residing in a malaria-endemic area of Flores Island, Indonesia, T-helper subsets, regulatory T-cell (Treg) frequencies, tumor necrosis facto...

In order to assess the reliability of the thick smear in a Plasmodium infection area, 322 thick smears were examined by a trained microscopist in field conditions. Later, the same smears were examined by an experience microscopist in ideal laboratory conditions. Reliability was measured by the Kappa index. In symptomatic malaria patients the Kappa index was 0.91 (IC 95% 0.57-0.98 p<0.05) while ...

The proportion of imported malaria cases due to immigrants in Europe has increased during the lasts decades, with higher rates associated with settled immigrants who travel to visit friends and relatives (VFRs) in their country of origin. Cases are mainly due to P. falciparum and Sub-Saharan Africa is the most common origin. Clinically, malaria in immigrants is characterised by a mild clinical ...