Asymptomatic and low-density <i>Plasmodium</i> infections in India: an unexplored link

Kumar, Gaurav; Mishra, Neelima; Pasi, Shweta; Kaur, Jaspreet

doi:10.1080/20477724.2022.2113304

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Malaria in India is still a public health problem and P. falciparum is a predominant malaria parasite (> 50%) along with P. vivax (23). While malaria cases have progressively decreased in India, the endemic areas with asymptomatic and low-density transmission result in continued transmission in healthy individuals (11,24,25). Identification and appropriate control of infectious gametocytes is critical in curbing transmission because even at one gametocyte/ml of blood, mosquitoes can transmit the malaria parasite to another healthy individual (26).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The RDTs are potential tool for surveillance of symptomatic malaria patients in the field but asymptomatic or low-density P. falciparum infections are often missed by RDTs (3,28). The asymptomatic, low-density malaria parasites and low gametocytemic reservoir patients pose a significant challenge to the elimination of malaria from India by 2030 (11,25). The PF3D7_1302100 coding Pfg27 gene is expressed in early stages (I-III) and play important role in male and female gametocytogenesis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The application of molecular biology tools has led to the detection of submicroscopic gametocyte carriage and examination of human infectious reservoirs (9). Even lowdensity gametocyte asymptomatic reservoirs are potential carriers for transmission of malaria (10)(11)(12). There are variations in the time of appearance of these gametocytes in asymptomatic and symptomatic infections (13).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Detection of the infective Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes by RT-qPCR assay from a malaria-endemic region of Northeastern India

Das,

Vashisht,

Kori

et al. 2024

Front. Trop. Dis

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionThe diagnosis of infectious reservoirs in malaria (gametocytes) is necessary, especially in low-density infections and asymptomatic malaria patients. The gametocyte stage is a surrogate marker for infection of P. falciparum malaria in healthy individuals. The early detection of infectious gametocytes and treatment will strengthen our efforts in curbing transmission. The nested PCR and real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) methods have been demonstrated for the diagnosis of infectious gametocyte reservoirs. In this study, RDT, blood smear microscopy, and nested-PCR were used for the detection of P. falciparum and P. vivax, and compared with RT-qPCR detection of Pfg27 gametocyte biomarker gene.MethodsIn the present cross-sectional study, 356 human blood samples were collected from endemic areas of Kokrajhar Assam (asymptomatic and symptomatic malaria patients) for malaria diagnosis.ResultsA total of 8.42%(30/356) incidence of malaria was observed. Malaria patients were observed to be both symptomatic, 80%(24/30; 13Pf+11Pv), and asymptomatic, 20%(6 (4Pf +2Pv)). More than 64%(11/17) of Pf and 92.3%(12/13) of Pv infections were observed in children and the adolescent population (age <20 years) by RDT, microscopy, nested PCR, and RT-qPCR methods. The prevalence of Pf infection was 4.77%(17/356) by RT-qPCR method. Of 16 the Pf positive samples 81.25%(13/16) were symptomatic and 18.75%(3/16) were asymptomatic. One asymptomatic individual was found positive for Pf infection by the RT-qPCR method.ConclusionThe findings from this research study revealed that the routine microscopy and RDT methods are insufficient for detecting all asymptomatic malaria and gametocyte infectious reservoirs. The early detection of infectious P. falciparum gametocytes and the treatment of patients will be helpful in preventing the transmission of malaria.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%