ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2026
Quantitative polymerase chain reaction from malaria rapid diagnostic tests to detect Borrelia crocidurae in Mali.
Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) is caused by Borrelia species transmitted to humans by soft ticks of the genus Ornithodoros. Very little is currently known about the morbidity of this disease in Mali, despite the risk of human co-infection with malaria. The lack of appropriate diagnostic services or technical expertise to differentiate suspected malaria from other causes of febrile illness of unknown origin means that this tick-borne disease remains neglected and under-diagnosed in febrile patients in Mali. Our study investigated the detection of Borrelia crocidurae DNA in febrile patients in Mali from malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for Plasmodium falciparum. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL
findingsBetween June and December 2021, negative and positive malaria RDTs were collected from 41 health centers in the nine regions of Mali. Both qPCR and standard PCR were used to detect the presence of B. crocidurae DNA.
resultsOf the 1,496, malaria RDTs tested, B. crocidurae DNA was detected in 9 DNA extracts from malaria-negative RDTs. All of these were collected in the region of Kayes, where the prevalence rate was 5% (9/180) of the malaria RDTs. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This study demonstrates that tick-borne relapsing fever is an under-diagnosed condition in Mali.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.