Community Actions and Insights in the Battle against COVID-19 at the Start of the Pandemic: A District Study Observation from Medan, Indonesia.

Background: As of 17 June 2020, the WHO confirmed 8,061,550 COVID-19 cases globally, with Indonesia reporting 40,400 cases and North Sumatra over 932 cases. The rising infection rates have led to increased deaths, highlighting the urgency for public understanding of virus transmission. Despite information dissemination efforts, North Sumatra has not seen a reduction in cases, emphasizing the need for a unified approach to combat the pandemic.

Improved limit of detection for zoonotic and surveillance using reverse transcription for total nucleic acid preserved samples or dried blood spots.

Background: Zoonotic and symptomatic and asymptomatic infections occur across endemic areas of Southeast Asia. Most infections are low-parasitemia, with an unknown proportion below routine microscopy detection thresholds. Molecular surveillance tools optimizing the limit of detection (LOD) would allow more accurate estimates of zoonotic malaria prevalence.

The presence of Plasmodium malariae and Plasmodium knowlesi in near malaria elimination setting in western Indonesia.

Background: Indonesia is progressing towards malaria elimination. To achieve this goal, intervention measures must be addressed to cover all Plasmodium species. Comprehensive control measures and surveillance programmes must be intensified.