ArticlePloS one2026
Distribution of falciparum and non-falciparum malaria among symptomatic malaria patients in Dschang, West Region of Cameroon.
Article in PloS one, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Prevalence of malaria and its major parasite species in Bangladesh: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Malaria journal · 2026Pooled it
- Complex non-Research square · 2026Article
- Article
- Epidemiology of ovale, vivax and falciparum malaria in the highlands of Cameroon: An integrated community survey of human infection and vector abundance.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2025Article
- Epidemiology of Relapsing and Falciparum Malaria in the Highlands of Cameroon: An Integrated Community Survey of Human Infection and Vector Abundance.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
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Abstract
backgroundMalaria is a vector-borne parasitic disease that continues to be a global public health threat. Five different species of the genus Plasmodium (P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale curtisi, P. ovale wallikeri, and P. vivax) cause malaria in Sub-Saharan Africa. Previous cross-sectional surveys from 2013 and 2017 indicated the circulation of P. vivax in the West region of Cameroon, prompting an investigation into the prevalence of all falciparum and non-falciparum malaria parasite species in this region.
methodsA cross-sectional facility-based study targeting both adult and children in which we recruited 431 clinically suspected cases of malaria from three health centres in the West region of Cameroon in 2020. Socio-demographic, clinical data, and dried blood spots (DBS) were collected from all consenting patients. Parasite DNA was extracted from DBS for real-time PCR amplification of species-specific Plasmodium 18S rRNA for P. falciparum, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. vivax. In addition, P. ovale was further sub-classified into P. ovale curtisi or P. ovale wallikeri using qPCR. The prevalence of different species was measured.
resultsAmong the 431 samples, the overall malaria prevalence was 54.8% [95% CI: 50.1-59.8] (236/431). Of these, 53.4% [95% CI: 48.7-58.5] were infected with P. falciparum, 4% [95%CI: 2.2-5.6] with P. ovale, and 0.9% [95% CI: 0.2-1.7] with P. malariae. No P. vivax was detected. Mixed infections were common, with 8.9% of the infections harbouring more than one Plasmodium species. A total of 5 P. ovale and 1 P. malariae mono-infections were detected. Of the 17 P. ovale infections, 12 were successfully genotyped, with 6 P. ovale curtisi, 3 P. ovale wallikeri, and 3 a mixture of the species.
conclusionsWhile falciparum remains the dominant malaria parasite species among acute febrile illness cases, non-falciparum malaria is also commonly found in Dschang, both as a co-infection with P. falciparum and as mono-infections. Both subspecies of P. ovale are present in the region. Continued monitoring of non-falciparum species is needed for understanding malaria burden in West Cameroon.
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