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. 2024 Mar 23;17(1):153.
doi: 10.1186/s13071-024-06242-4.

Prevalence of non-falciparum malaria infections among asymptomatic individuals in four regions of Mainland Tanzania

Zachary R Popkin-Hall  1 , Misago D Seth  2 , Rashid A Madebe  2 , Rule Budodo  2 , Catherine Bakari  2 , Filbert Francis  3 , Dativa Pereus  2 , David J Giesbrecht  4 , Celine I Mandara  2 , Daniel Mbwambo  5 , Sijenunu Aaron  5 , Abdallah Lusasi  5 , Samwel Lazaro  5 , Jeffrey A Bailey  6   7 , Jonathan J Juliano  8 , Julie R Gutman  9 , Deus S Ishengoma  2   10   11
Affiliations

Prevalence of non-falciparum malaria infections among asymptomatic individuals in four regions of Mainland Tanzania

Zachary R Popkin-Hall et al. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

Background: Recent studies point to the need to incorporate the detection of non-falciparum species into malaria surveillance activities in sub-Saharan Africa, where 95% of the world's malaria cases occur. Although malaria caused by infection with Plasmodium falciparum is typically more severe than malaria caused by the non-falciparum Plasmodium species P. malariae, P. ovale spp. and P. vivax, the latter may be more challenging to diagnose, treat, control and ultimately eliminate. The prevalence of non-falciparum species throughout sub-Saharan Africa is poorly defined. Tanzania has geographical heterogeneity in transmission levels but an overall high malaria burden.

Methods: To estimate the prevalence of malaria species in Mainland Tanzania, we randomly selected 1428 samples from 6005 asymptomatic isolates collected in previous cross-sectional community surveys across four regions and analyzed these by quantitative PCR to detect and identify the Plasmodium species.

Results: Plasmodium falciparum was the most prevalent species in all samples, with P. malariae and P. ovale spp. detected at a lower prevalence (< 5%) in all four regions; P. vivax was not detected in any sample.

Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that malaria elimination efforts in Tanzania will need to account for and enhance surveillance of these non-falciparum species.

Keywords: Plasmodium malariae; Plasmodium ovale; Plasmodium vivax; Asymptomatic malaria; Malaria; Non-falciparum species; Tanzania.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Maps of Tanzania showing the location of study regions (a) and the regional prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum (b), P. malariae (c) and P. ovale spp. (d). Plasmodium vivax was not detected in any sample and therefore was not mapped
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Tukey HSD analysis of malaria species prevalence by age group. A total of 826, 234 and 368 samples were positive for malaria infection in the age groups ‘young children’ (< 5 years), ‘school children’ (5–16 years) and ‘adults’ (> 16 years), respectively. The total number of samples per group for each species is shown on the X-axis under each bar, and the number of positive samples for each group is shown in each bar. a, b, c Prevalence by age group of P. falciparum (a) P. malariae (b) and P. ovale spp. (c). All comparisons marked with an asterisk were significant at the P < 0.05 level; all other comparisons were statistically non-significant
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