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. 2015 Jul;93(1):153-8.
doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.14-0420. Epub 2015 May 26.

Assessment of antibody responses in local and immigrant residents of areas with autochthonous malaria transmission in Greece

Evangelia-Theofano Piperaki  1 , Maria Mavrouli  1 , Maria Tseroni  1 , John Routsias  1 , Athina Kallimani  1 , Lamprini Veneti  1 , Maria Georgitsou  1 , Maria Chania  1 , Theano Georgakopoulou  1 , Christos Hadjichristodoulou  1 , Athanassios Tsakris  2
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Assessment of antibody responses in local and immigrant residents of areas with autochthonous malaria transmission in Greece

Evangelia-Theofano Piperaki et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2015 Jul.

Abstract

Greece has been officially malaria free since 1974. However, from 2009 to 2012, several locally acquired, cases of Plasmodium vivax malaria were detected, in immigrants and in Greek citizens. In this study, the antibody (Ab) response of Greeks and immigrants with documented malaria was initially assessed, followed by an Ab screening of Greeks and immigrant residents of local transmission areas. Of the 38 patients tested, 10.5% of Greeks and 15.7% of immigrants were positive 5-7 months after infection. Of the 1,019 individuals from various areas of Greece, including those of autochthonous transmission, 85 of the 721 (11.8%) immigrants were positive, whereas all 298 Greeks were negative. The rapid Ab titer decline observed is reasonable, given the non-endemic epidemiological setting. The seroepidemiological findings indicate that the local Greek population remains malaria naive and that at this point Greeks are unlikely to serve as reservoir for the infection of local mosquitoes.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
A map of Greece highlighting the study areas (Laconia, Attica, and Karditsa prefectures).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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