Introduction: While hyperparasitemia is considered an important indicator for the development of severe malaria, there is currently no consensus on the quantitative definition of hyperparasitemia. This study was conducted to establish a cutoff point for peripheral parasitemia among patients with Plasmodium falciparum malaria, to define severe malaria.
Methods: The clinical presentations of 200 uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria, and 189 severe P. falciparum malaria, patients, admitted to the Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand, were analyzed.
Results: A peripheral parasitemia of 0.5% was found to be the optimal cutoff point for defining severe malaria, demonstrating highest sensitivity (85.1%), specificity (62.0%), and accuracy (73.2%).
Conclusion: Symptoms of severe falciparum malaria depend on many factors. For the definition of hyperparasitemia in areas of low or seasonal transmission, peripheral parasitemia of 0.5% might be considered a cutoff point for discrimination between severity levels. This value might be useful for the clinical management of malaria, particularly in hypo-endemic areas, unstable transmission areas, and other areas with similar transmission patterns.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-553X.2011.01398.x | DOI Listing |
Sci Rep
January 2025
West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
Gossypol has demonstrated significant antimalarial activity against chloroquine-resistant and susceptible Plasmodium falciparum parasites. However, data on its potency in clinical isolates of P. falciparum remains limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVaccine
January 2025
Department of Global Health, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA. Electronic address:
Transmission-blocking vaccines (TBVs) targeting sexual-stage antigens represent a critical tool for malaria control and elimination through inhibiting parasite development within mosquitoes. P230, displayed on the surface of gametocytes and gametes, plays a crucial role in gamete fertilization and is one of the leading TBV candidates for both Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMalar J
January 2025
Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Allschwil, Switzerland.
Background: The Highlands of Papua New Guinea are non-endemic for malaria compared to the rest of the country. This study aimed to explore the local transmission of malaria in the Highlands through a cross-sectional school survey coupled with reactive case detection.
Methods: Between July and November 2019, 5575 schoolchildren and 1048 household members were screened for malaria using Rapid Diagnostic Tests, subsequently validated by light microscopy.
Biosci Biotechnol Biochem
January 2025
Department of Bioresource Science, Faculty of Agriculture.
Plasmodium falciparum is a major cause of severe malaria. This protozoan infects human red blood cells and secretes large quantities of histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2) into the bloodstream, making it a well-known diagnostic marker. Here, however, we identified PfHRP2 as a pathogenic factor produced by P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Department of Parasitology and Entomology, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
SURFINs protein family expressed on surface of both infected red blood cell and merozoite surface making them as interesting vaccine candidate for erythrocytic stage of malaria infection. In this study, we analyze genetic variation of Pfsurf4.1 gene, copy number variation, and frequency of SURFIN4.
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