Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24642035›Full record

ReviewTrends in parasitology2014

The role of submicroscopic parasitemia in malaria transmission: what is the evidence?

Jessica T Lin, David L Saunders, Steven R Meshnick

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Trends in parasitology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 190 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
190citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

190 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. Global patterns of submicroscopicThe Lancet. Microbe · 2021
    Pooled it
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  12. SubmicroscopicTropical medicine and infectious disease · 2026
    Article
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  15. Review
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130 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Jessica T LinDivision of Infectious Diseases, University of North Carolina School of Medicine, Chapel Hill, NC, USA. Electronic address: jessica_lin@med.unc.edu.
David L SaundersDepartment of Immunology and Medicine, USAMC Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, Bangkok, Thailand.
Steven R MeshnickDepartment of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

Funding

Epidemiological and Spatial Models of Malaria TransmissionR01AI107949 · NIAID · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI MESHNICK, STEVEN RICHARD · 2014 to 2018
$2.5M
Genetic determinants of Plasmodium vivax relapseK08AI110651 · NIAID · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI LIN, JESSICA · 2014 to 2018
$869k
Genetic epidemiology of malaria in the Democratic Republic of the CongoR56AI097609 · NIAID · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI MESHNICK, STEVEN RICHARD · 2012 to 2012
$488k
NIAID NIH HHS K08 AI110651NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI107949NIAID NIH HHS R56 AI097609NIAID NIH HHS R56AI097609
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Achieving malaria elimination requires targeting the human reservoir of infection, including those with asymptomatic infection. Smear-positive asymptomatic infections detectable by microscopy are an important reservoir because they often persist for months and harbor gametocytes, the parasite stage infectious to mosquitoes. However, many asymptomatic infections are submicroscopic and can only be detected by molecular methods. Although there is some evidence that individuals with submicroscopic malaria can infect mosquitoes, transmission is much less likely to occur at submicroscopic gametocyte levels. As malaria elimination programs pursue mass screening and treatment of asymptomatic individuals, further research should strive to define the degree to which submicroscopic malaria contributes to the infectious reservoir and, in turn, what diagnostic detection threshold is needed to effectively interrupt transmission.

Indexed as

AnimalsAnophelesDisease ReservoirsHumansMalariaParasitemiaPlasmodiumResearchasymptomatic infectiondiagnosticgametocytemalaria eliminationreservoir

Identifiers

PMID24642035
PMCPMC4049069

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.