Malaria epidemiology in low-endemicity areas of the northern coast of Ecuador: high prevalence of asymptomatic infections

Malaria Journal

Research

Sócrates Herrera¹  Angélica Castellanos¹  Andrés F. Vallejo¹  Myriam Arévalo-Herrera²  Gabriela Valenzuela³  Andrea Arévalo-Cortés³  Andrea C. Poveda-Loayza³  Fabián E. Sáenz³  Juan B. Gutierrez⁴  Yi Heng Yan⁴  Yoldy Benavides⁵  Alvaro Alvarez⁵  Luis Enrique Castro⁶ 

[1] Caucaseco Scientific Research Center, Cali, Colombia;Caucaseco Scientific Research Center, Cali, Colombia;School of Health, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia;Centro de Investigación para la Salud en América Latina, Escuela de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, Calle Pambacienda y San Pedro del Valle, Quito, Ecuador;Department of Mathematics, Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA;Malaria Vaccine and Drug Development Center, Cali, Colombia;Ministerio de Salud Pública, Guayaquil, Ecuador;

关键词: Asymptomatic malaria;    Ecuador;    Knowledge attitude and practices;    Elimination;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12936-017-1947-0

 received in 2017-05-06, accepted in 2017-07-18,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThe recent scale-up in malaria control measures in Latin America has resulted in a significant decrease in the number of reported cases in several countries including Ecuador, where it presented a low malaria incidence in recent years (558 reported cases in 2015) with occasional outbreaks of both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax in the coastal and Amazonian regions. This success in malaria control in recent years has led Ecuador to transition its malaria policy from control to elimination.ResultsThis study evaluated the general knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) about malaria, as well as its prevalence in four communities of an endemic area in northwest Ecuador. A total of 258 interviews to assess KAP in the community indicated that most people in the study area have a basic knowledge about the disease but did not use to contribute to its control. Six hundred and forty-eight blood samples were collected and analysed by thick blood smear and real-time PCR. In addition, the distribution of the infections was mapped in the study communities. Although, no parasites were found by microscopy, by PCR the total malaria prevalence was 7.5% (6.9% P. vivax and 0.6% P. falciparum), much higher than expected and comparable to that reported in endemic areas of neighbouring countries with higher malaria transmission. Serology using ELISA and immunofluorescence indicated 27% respondents for P. vivax and 22% respondents for P. falciparum.ConclusionsResults suggest that despite a great malaria reduction in Ecuador, transition from control to elimination would demand further improvement in malaria diagnostics, including active case detection to identify and treat parasite asymptomatic carriers, as well as community participation in its elimination.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2017