Frequent umbilical cord-blood and maternal-blood infections with Plasmodium falciparum, P. malariae, and P. ovale in Kenya.
The prevalence of malaria infection in 102 paired maternal-blood and umbilical cord-blood samples was assessed by microscopy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in a holoendemic area in Kenya. Plasmodium falciparum single-species infection was detected in maternal peripheral blood (3.4%), whereas microscopy indicated that no Plasmodium species were in cord blood. In contrast, maternal-blood samples showed a PCR prevalence of 48% for P. falciparum, 25% for P. malariae, and 24% for P. ovale, and cord-blood samples showed a PCR prevalence of 32%, 23%, and 21%, respectively. Although mothers with mixed-species infections were more likely to have offspring infected with mixed species, the specific malaria species were discordant in paired maternal- and cord-blood samples. Triple-species infections were observed in 11 cord- and maternal-blood samples at a 5.5-fold greater frequency than expected. These findings indicate that Plasmodium species infections in cord blood are common, occur at lower densities, and may be acquired before parturition.
Division of Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4983, USA.
A A
AA
Tobian
R K
RK
Mehlotra
I
I
Malhotra
A
A
Wamachi
P
P
Mungai
D
D
Koech
J
J
Ouma
P
P
Zimmerman
C L
CL
King
D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002648:Child; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007630:Kenya / Q000453:epidemiology; D008288:Malaria / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010965:Plasmodium malariae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid