Asymptomatic Plasmodium infection in a residual malaria transmission area in the Atlantic Forest region: Implications for elimination.

Introduction: Elimination of malaria in areas of interrupted transmission warrants careful case assessment to avoid the reintroduction of this disease. Occasional malaria cases are reported among visitors of the Atlantic Forest area of Brazil, while data on residents of this area are scarce.

Methods: A sectional study was carried out to examine 324 individuals living in a municipality where autochthonous cases were detected.

Lipoproteins from vertebrate host blood plasma are involved in Trypanosoma cruzi epimastigote agglutination and participate in interaction with the vector insect, Rhodnius prolixus.

Chagas disease, infecting ca. 8 million people in Central and South America, is mediated by the protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi. The parasite is transmitted by the bite of blood sucking triatomine insects, such as Rhodnius prolixus, that had previously fed on parasite-infected vertebrate blood and voided their contaminated feces and urine into the wound.

Malaria in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, an Atlantic Forest area: an assessment using the health surveillance service.

The lethality of malaria in the extra-Amazonian region is more than 70 times higher than in Amazonia itself. Recently, several studies have shown that autochthonous malaria is not a rare event in the Brazilian southeastern states in the Atlantic Forest biome. Information about autochthonous malaria in the state of Rio de Janeiro (RJ) is scarce.

Evaluation of three different DNA extraction methods from blood samples collected in dried filter paper in Plasmodium subpatent infections from the Amazon region in Brazil.

Asymptomatic Plasmodium infection is a new challenge for public health in the American region. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the best method for diagnosing subpatent parasitemias. In endemic areas, blood collection is hampered by geographical distances and deficient transport and storage conditions of the samples.