Many species of Plasmodium are responsible for malaria transmission. Malaria control efforts are heavily focused on Plasmodium falciparum, the most virulent and well-known. However, other Plasmodium species do not receive the same attention. To strengthen malaria control, it is preferable to understand the role of all Plasmodium species. In this study, we assessed the contribution of Plasmodium malariae to malaria transmission in Cameroon. This work was carried out in the Ngatti health area where we targeted 497 people aged from 1 to 85 on whom we took a drop of blood to make a thick blood smear and blotting paper. This was later used for the identification of Plasmodium species.
The results show that, the overall Plasmodium prevalence was 50.3%, 51.8% and 64.7%, as detected by microscopy, the RDT and PCR, respectively. Based on the PCR results, P. falciparum was the most prevalent species (43%); followed by co-infections P. falciparum/P. malariae (17%), P. falciparum/P. ovale (1.3%), P. falciparum/P. ovale/P. malariae (1.3%); and then by P. malariae mono-infection (2.5%). The same trend was observed using microscopy, with 35% of participants infected with P. falciparum, 11% co-infected with P. falciparum/P. malariae and 4% infected with P. malariae. The prevalence and parasite density of malaria infection varied significantly with age group (P < 0.05), with the highest prevalence rate observed in children aged 6–10 years (P = 0.0001) while the density of Plasmodium infection increased significantly in children aged < 5 years compared to the other age groups (P = 10−3).
The results of this study reveal a significant contribution of P. malariae in addition to P. falciparum to the high malaria transmission rate in this region. These findings highlight the need for initiatives to also address this Plasmodium species in order to eliminate malaria in the region.
Read more: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-022-05635-7
