Background: Malaria is a major public health problem in French Guiana, where Plasmodium vivax has become the dominant malaria species since 2000. As in others endemic areas, it is important to specify the pattern of vivax malaria relapses and to try to discriminate efficiently re-infections from relapses.
Methods: This study was conducted in children born between January 1, 2001 and December 31, 2008 in Camopi, an Amerindian village located in the Amazon forest (n = 325), using an open cohort design.