Growing evidence of Plasmodium vivax across malaria-endemic Africa.

Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101291488 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1935-2735 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19352727 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis Subsets: MEDLINE

Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science

Endemic Diseases*; Malaria, Vivax/*epidemiology ; Malaria, Vivax/*parasitology ; Plasmodium vivax/*isolation & purification; Africa/epidemiology ; Duffy Blood-Group System/blood ; Humans ; Malaria, Falciparum/blood ; Malaria, Falciparum/epidemiology ; Malaria, Falciparum/prevention & control ; Malaria, Falciparum/transmission ; Malaria, Vivax/prevention & control ; Malaria, Vivax/transmission ; Odds Ratio ; Parasitemia/blood ; Parasitemia/epidemiology ; Parasitemia/prevention & control ; Parasitemia/transmission ; Plasmodium falciparum/isolation & purification ; Prevalence

Effective malaria control strategies require an accurate understanding of the epidemiology of locally transmitted Plasmodium species. Compared to Plasmodium falciparum infection, Plasmodium vivax has a lower asexual parasitaemia, forms dormant liver-stages (hypnozoites), and is more transmissible. Hence, treatment and diagnostic policies aimed exclusively at P. falciparum are far less efficient against endemic P. vivax. Within sub-Saharan Africa, malaria control programmes justly focus on reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with P. falciparum. However, the recent emphasis on malaria elimination and increased accessibility of more sensitive diagnostic tools have revealed greater intricacies in malaria epidemiology across the continent. Since 2010, the number of studies identifying P. vivax endemic to Africa has expanded considerably, with 88 new scientific reports published since a review of evidence in 2015, approximately doubling the available data. There is evidence of P. vivax in all regions of Africa, apparent from infected vectors, clinical cases, serological indicators, parasite prevalence, exported infections, and P. vivax-infected Duffy-negative individuals. Where the prevalence of microscopic parasitaemia is low, a greater proportion of P. vivax infections were observed relative to P. falciparum. This evidence highlights an underlying widespread presence of P. vivax across all malaria-endemic regions of Africa, further complicating the current practical understanding of malaria epidemiology in this region. Thus, ultimate elimination of malaria in Africa will require national malaria control programmes to adopt policy and practice aimed at all human species of malaria.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Erratum in: PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2019 Jun 28;13(6):e0007525. (PMID: 31251740)

Clin Microbiol Rev. 2005 Jul;18(3):570-81. (PMID: 16020691)
Trends Parasitol. 2006 May;22(5):214-8. (PMID: 16531119)
Malar J. 2007 Feb 16;6:17. (PMID: 17306022)
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2010 Aug 03;4(8):e774. (PMID: 20689816)
PLoS Med. 2011 Jan 25;8(1):e1000412. (PMID: 21311585)
Nat Commun. 2011;2:266. (PMID: 21468018)
Malar J. 2012 Apr 24;11:122. (PMID: 22531245)
Malar J. 2012 Apr 27;11:135. (PMID: 22540175)
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012;6(9):e1814. (PMID: 22970336)
Lancet. 2013 Sep 7;382(9895):900-11. (PMID: 23594387)
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013 May 14;110(20):8123-8. (PMID: 23637341)
Malar J. 2013 May 16;12:161. (PMID: 23680401)
Trends Parasitol. 2014 Apr;30(4):183-90. (PMID: 24642035)
Malar J. 2014 Apr 15;13:144. (PMID: 24731298)
PLoS Med. 2014 May 13;11(5):e1001642. (PMID: 24824170)
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014 Aug 28;8(8):e3109. (PMID: 25166263)
J Infect Dis. 2015 May 1;211(9):1476-83. (PMID: 25429102)
Malar J. 2015 Mar 04;14:100. (PMID: 25880759)
Nature. 2015 Oct 8;526(7572):207-211. (PMID: 26375008)
PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2015 Nov 20;9(11):e0004222. (PMID: 26587988)
PLoS Med. 2016 Jan 19;13(1):e1001942. (PMID: 26783752)
Parasit Vectors. 2016 Feb 24;9:99. (PMID: 26911433)
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 May 31;113(22):6271-6. (PMID: 27190089)
Infect Dis Poverty. 2016 Jun 09;5(1):61. (PMID: 27282148)
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2016 Dec 28;95(6 Suppl):15-34. (PMID: 27402513)
BMC Infect Dis. 2016 Sep 29;16(1):520. (PMID: 27682611)
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2016 Dec 28;95(6 Suppl):35-51. (PMID: 27708191)
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2016 Dec 28;95(6 Suppl):4-14. (PMID: 27799636)
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2017 Sep;97(3):636-638. (PMID: 28990906)
Science. 2018 Jan 5;359(6371):48-55. (PMID: 29302006)
Trends Parasitol. 2018 May;34(5):420-429. (PMID: 29530446)
Public Health Action. 2018 Apr 25;8(Suppl 1):S24-S28. (PMID: 29713590)
Public Health Action. 2018 Apr 25;8(Suppl 1):S34-S38. (PMID: 29713592)
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2018 Jul;99(1):17-23. (PMID: 29761762)
Infect Genet Evol. 2018 Sep;63:73-78. (PMID: 29778768)
Malar J. 2018 Oct 5;17(1):352. (PMID: 30290815)
N Engl J Med. 1976 Aug 5;295(6):302-4. (PMID: 778616)

200909/Z/16/Z United Kingdom WT_ Wellcome Trust; R01 AI097366 United States AI NIAID NIH HHS

0 (Duffy Blood-Group System)

Date Created: 20190201 Date Completed: 20190423 Latest Revision: 20230111

20240829

PMC6372205

10.1371/journal.pntd.0007140

30703083