Asymptomatic malaria and hepatitis B do not influence cytokine responses of persons involved in chronic sedentary activities.

Background: Chronic Sedentary lifestyles have been linked to increased odds of stress, elevated anxiety and diminished wellbeing, inducing cytokine production and predispose to hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. In endemic areas, Plasmodium falciparum and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections can trigger pro-inflammatory cytokine responses. However, the impact of these infections on cytokine response profiles in individuals engaged in chronic sedentary activities is unknown.

Prevalence of Asymptomatic Malaria among Children in the Tamale Metropolis: How Does the PfHRP2 CareStart™ RDT Perform against Microscopy?

Background: Asymptomatic carriage of the malaria parasites, likewise its misdiagnosis, especially false negatives, due to the use of substandard rapid diagnosis tests (RDTs) has been shown to hinder the progress of the fight against malaria.

Method: The study assessed the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria as well as the performance of -specific protein and histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2) CareStart™ RDT against standard microscopy in the detection of malaria infection among 345 children (1-15 yrs) from two (2) basic schools in Tamale Metropolis.

Results: From the microscopy (considered as gold standard), prevalence of malaria among the asymptomatic children was found to be 2.