Back to Search
Start Over
Malaria parasite species composition of Plasmodium infections among asymptomatic and symptomatic school-age children in rural and urban areas of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
- Source :
- Malaria Journal, Malaria Journal, Vol 20, Iss 1, Pp 1-13 (2021)
- Publication Year :
- 2021
- Publisher :
- BioMed Central, 2021.
-
Abstract
- Background Malaria remains a major public health concern in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and school-age children are relatively neglected in malaria prevalence surveys and may constitute a significant reservoir of transmission. This study aimed to understand the burden of malaria infections in school-age children in Kinshasa/DRC. Methods A total of 634 (427 asymptomatic and 207 symptomatic) blood samples collected from school-age children aged 6 to 14 years were analysed by microscopy, RDT and Nested-PCR. Results The overall prevalence of Plasmodium spp. by microscopy, RDT and PCR was 33%, 42% and 62% among asymptomatic children and 59%, 64% and 95% in symptomatic children, respectively. The prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium ovale spp. by PCR was 58%, 20% and 11% among asymptomatic and 93%, 13% and 16% in symptomatic children, respectively. Among P. ovale spp., P. ovale curtisi, P. ovale wallikeri and mixed P. ovale curtisi + P. ovale wallikeri accounted for 75%, 24% and 1% of infections, respectively. All Plasmodium species infections were significantly more prevalent in the rural area compared to the urban area in asymptomatic infections (p Plasmodium with P. falciparum infections in the rural and the urban areas, respectively, whereas in symptomatic malaria infections, it was 22% and 26%, respectively. Few children carried single infections of P. malariae (2.2%) and P. ovale spp. (1.9%). Conclusion School-age children are at significant risk from both asymptomatic and symptomatic malaria infections. Continuous systematic screening and treatment of school-age children in high-transmission settings is needed.
- Subjects :
- Rural Population
medicine.medical_specialty
Plasmodium
Adolescent
Urban Population
RC955-962
Plasmodium malariae
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Asymptomatic
Age Distribution
Internal medicine
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
parasitic diseases
medicine
Prevalence
Humans
Child
Asymptomatic Infections
biology
Transmission (medicine)
business.industry
Research
Plasmodium falciparum
DNA, Protozoan
biology.organism_classification
Plasmodium ovale
medicine.disease
Malaria
Infectious Diseases
Democratic Republic Congo
Cross-Sectional Studies
Tropical medicine
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Parasitology
Rural area
medicine.symptom
School-age children
business
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14752875
- Volume :
- 20
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Malaria Journal
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....b1309b4aae233ed993798d0a8775af54