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.
Tobian
A A
AA
Division of Geographic Medicine, Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-4983, USA.
Mehlotra
R K
RK
Malhotra
I
I
Wamachi
A
A
Mungai
P
P
Koech
D
D
Ouma
J
J
Zimmerman
P
P
King
C L
CL
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