ArticleMalaria journal2016
High prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte infections in school-age children using molecular detection: patterns and predictors of risk from a cross-sectional study in southern Malawi.
Article in Malaria journal, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 48 papers.
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48 citing papers in PubMed, 101 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of malaria prevention education on bed net utilization, incidence of malaria and treatment seeking among school-aged children in Southern Ethiopia; cluster randomized controlled trial.BMC infectious diseases · 2023Trial
- School-based screening and treatment may reduce P. falciparum transmission.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
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- Asymptomatic school-age children carry the majority of transmissible Plasmodium falciparum infections.Communications medicine · 2026Article
- The kinetics and transmission-blocking dynamics ofResearch square · 2026Article
- Repeated biannual cross-sectional surveys in primary schools set baseline seasonal and spatial surveillance for malaria and schistosomiasis in the Shire Valley Transformation Programme (SVTP), Malawi.Current research in parasitology & vector-borne diseases · 2026Article
- Plasmodium knowlesi gametocyte carriage and load among malaria patients at Kapit Hospital in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Risk factor for gametocyte carriage and gametocytemia in Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum.Infectious diseases of poverty · 2025Article
- Plasmodium falciparum gametocyte burden in a Tanzanian heterogeneous transmission setting.Malaria journal · 2025Article
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- Plasmodium falciparum infection in humans and mosquitoes influence natural Anopheline biting behavior and transmission.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Evidence of Plasmodium vivax circulation in western and eastern regions of Senegal: implications for malaria control.Malaria journal · 2024Article
- Molecular surveillance of Kelch 13 polymorphisms in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Kenya and Ethiopia.Malaria journal · 2024Article
- Plasmodium gametocyte carriage in humans and sporozoite rate in anopheline mosquitoes in Gondar zuria district, Northwest Ethiopia.PloS one · 2024Article
- Asymptomatic and submicroscopic malaria infections in sugar cane and rice development areas of Ethiopia.Malaria journal · 2023Article
- Prevalence of Plasmodium Falciparum Gametocytes among Malaria Positive Cases at Korogwe District Hospital: The Use of Molecular Techniques in Comparison with Light Microscopy.Rwanda journal of medicine and health sciences · 2023Article
- Biology and epidemiology ofParasite epidemiology and control · 2023Review
- Genotyping of Anopheles mosquito blood meals reveals nonrandom human host selection: implications for human-to-mosquito Plasmodium falciparum transmission.Malaria journal · 2023Article
- Altitude, not potential larval habitat availability, explains pronounced variation in Plasmodium falciparum infection prevalence in the western Kenya highlands.PLOS global public health · 2023Article
- Infectivity of Symptomatic Patients and Their Contribution for Infectiousness of Mosquitoes following a Membrane Feeding Assay in Ethiopia.Microbiology spectrum · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn endemic areas, many people experience asymptomatic Plasmodium infections, particularly older children and adults, but their transmission contribution is unknown. Though not the exclusive determinant of infectiousness, transmission from humans to mosquitoes requires blood meals containing gametocytes. Gametocytes often occur at submicroscopic densities, challenging measurement in human populations. More sensitive molecular techniques allow better characterization of gametocyte epidemiologic patterns.
methodsApproximately 30 households were selected from each of eight sites in southern Malawi during two cross-sectional surveys. Blood was sampled from 623 people during the dry season and 896 the following rainy season. Among people PCR-positive for Plasmodium falciparum, mature gametocytes were detected by qRT-PCR. Regression models evaluated predictors of gametocyte carriage and density in the total population and among those with PCR-positive infections.
resultsThe prevalence of gametocyte carriage by molecular testing was 3.5% during the dry season and 8.6% during the rainy season, and by microscopy 0.8 and 3.3%, respectively. Nearly half of PCR-positive infections carried gametocytes, regardless of recent symptom status. Among P. falciparum-infected people, only living in unfinished houses and age were significantly associated with gametocyte presence. Infected people in unfinished houses had higher odds of carrying gametocytes (OR 2.24, 95% CI 1.16-4.31), and 31% (95% CI 3-65%) higher gametocyte density than those in finished houses. School-age children (5-15 years), had higher odds than adults (≥16 years) of having gametocytes when infected (OR 2.77, 95% CI 1.47-5.19), but 31% (95% CI 11-47%) lower gametocyte density. Children <5 years did not have significantly higher odds of gametocyte carriage or density when infected than adults.
conclusionsSchool-age children frequently carry gametocytes in communities of southern Malawi and represent an under-recognized reservoir of infection. Malaria elimination strategies should address these frequently asymptomatic reservoirs, especially in highly endemic areas. Improved household construction may also reduce the infectious reservoir.
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