Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29906275›Full record

ArticlePloS one2018

Seasonal variations in Plasmodium falciparum parasite prevalence assessed by varying diagnostic tests in asymptomatic children in southern Ghana.

Ruth Ayanful-Torgby, Neils B Quashie, Johnson N Boampong, Kim C Williamson, Linda E Amoah

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
37citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
7.1field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
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

37 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 53 citations in OpenAlex.

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  13. Blood glucose profile as a rapid method for observing Koi carp (Cyprinus carpio) health status - case study of ectoparasites in Blitar, Indonesia.Revista brasileira de parasitologia veterinaria = Brazilian journal of veterinary parasitology : Orgao Oficial do Colegio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinaria · 2023
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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

5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Ruth Ayanful-TorgbyDepartment of Immunology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
Neils B QuashieCentre for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
Johnson N BoampongSchool of Biomedical Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Kim C WilliamsonDepartment of Microbiology, Uniform Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America.
Linda E AmoahDepartment of Immunology, Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.ORCID 0000-0002-5406-833X
University of Cape Coast · GHUniversity of Ghana · GHUniformed Services University of the Health Sciences · US

Funding

Plasmodium falciparum gametocytogenesisR01AI069314 · NIAID · LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · PI WILLIAMSON, KIM C · 2007 to 2017
$2.8M
NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI069314
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Plasmodium falciparum infections presenting either as symptomatic or asymptomatic may contain sexual stage parasites (gametocytes) that are crucial to malaria transmission. In this study, the prevalence of microscopic and submicroscopic asexual and gametocyte parasite stages were assessed in asymptomatic children from two communities in southern Ghana. Eighty children aged twelve years and below, none of whom exhibited signs of clinical malaria living in Obom and Cape Coast were sampled twice, one during the rainy (July 2015) and subsequently during the dry (January 2016) season. Venous blood was used to prepare thick and thin blood smears, spot a rapid malaria diagnostic test (PfHRP2 RDT) as well as prepare filter paper blood spots. Blood cell pellets were preserved in Trizol for RNA extraction. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and semi-quantitative real time reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) were used to determine submicroscopic parasite prevalence. In both sites 87% (95% CI: 78-96) of the asymptomatic individuals surveyed were parasites positive during the 6 month study period. The prevalence of asexual and gametocyte stage parasites in the rainy season were both significantly higher in Obom than in Cape Coast (P < 0.001). Submicroscopic gametocyte prevalence was highest in the rainy season in Obom but in the dry season in Cape Coast. Parasite prevalence determined by PCR was similar to that determined by qRT-PCR in Obom but significantly lower than that determined by qRT-PCR in Cape Coast. Communities with varying parasite prevalence exhibit seasonal variations in the prevalence of gametocyte carriers. Submicroscopic asymptomatic parasite and gametocyte carriage is very high in southern Ghana, even during the dry season in communities with low microscopic parasite prevalence and likely to be missed during national surveillance exercises.

Indexed as

SeasonsAnimalsAsymptomatic DiseasesChildDried Blood Spot TestingGhanaHumansMalaria, FalciparumMicroscopyPlasmodium falciparumPrevalenceReverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain ReactionRNA, ProtozoanRNA, Protozoan

Identifiers

PMID29906275
PMCPMC6003688
OpenAlexW2807928611

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Registered trials

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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.