[Role of genetic epidemiology in the study of infectious diseases. The example of malaria].
Genetic epidemiology is a new tool for the study of malaria, with interesting incidence in the comprehension of host/parasite interrelations. The existence of a co-dominant major gene, with a mendelian transmission, controlling the levels of parasitemia has been found out. This allele has a frequency of 24% which means that about 6% of the population is predisposed to high parasitemias. These studies show the interest to integrate the existence of a genetical variability in the development and the evaluation of malaria control programmes. They are offering new perspectives in therapeutics and in the elaboration of vaccinal strategies.
Garcia
A
A
ORSTOM, Département Santé, Paris, France.
Abel
L
L
Cot
M
M
Chippaux
J P
JP
Feingold
J
J
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics*; D005799:Genes, Dominant; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000469:parasitology; D017720:Molecular Epidemiology / Q000379:methods*
Place de l'épidémiologie génétique dans l'étude des maladies infectieuses. Exemple du paludisme.