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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Absence of seasonal variation in malaria parasitaemia in an area of intense seasonal transmission
Acta Tropica, Volume 54, No. 1, Year 1993
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Description
Parasitological surveys carried out in two villages of the Kilombero district of Tanzania indicated a very high prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia throughout the year (all ages mean prevalence = 69.2%) and a low, unstable prevalence of P. malariae (all ages mean prevalence = 4.5%). Fevers (temperature ≥ 37.5°C) in both children and adults showed irregular changes in prevalence over time, but there was no seasonal pattern. Neither was there seasonal variation in either P. falciparum parasite prevalence or parasite densities. This was despite marked seasonality in vectors caught in CDC light-traps and in estimated sporozoite inoculations determined by ELISA. The estimated mean annual inoculation rate was extremely high, over 300 infectious bites per person per year, the main vectors being members of the A. gambiae complex and Anopheles funestus. There was considerable variation between houses but even in houses with relatively low mosquito numbers the inoculation rate was sufficient to maintain a maximal P. falciparum prevalence. Heterogeneities in exposure cannot explain why the parasite prevalence is not always 100%. In areas of such high transmission, parasitaemias are likely to be determined mainly by the interaction of schizogony and anti-blood stage immunity, since parasites arising from new inoculations generally comprise only a small proportion of the total in the circulation. In any one individual, this will lead to periodic fluctuations in levels of parasitaemia. These are unlikely to show a close relationship to either seasonal variation in inoculations or to differences between households in the local inoculation rate. © 1993.
Authors & Co-Authors
Smith, Thomas A.
Unknown Affiliation
Charlwood, J. D.
Unknown Affiliation
Kihonda, Japhet M.
Unknown Affiliation
Mwankusye, Samuel
Unknown Affiliation
Billingsley, Peter F.
Unknown Affiliation
Meuwissen, Joseph H.E.Th H.
Unknown Affiliation
Lyimo, Edith O.K.
Unknown Affiliation
Takken, Willem
Unknown Affiliation
Teuscher, Thomas M.
Unknown Affiliation
Tanner, Marcel
Unknown Affiliation
Statistics
Citations: 299
Authors: 10
Affiliations: 6
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/0001-706X(93)90068-M
ISSN:
0001706X
Research Areas
Infectious Diseases
Maternal And Child Health
Study Design
Cross Sectional Study
Study Locations
Tanzania