title: Estimation of the sporozoite rate of malaria vectors using the polymerase chain reaction and a mathematical model.
abstract: We developed a sensitive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for the detection of Plasmodium falciparum DNA from mosquitoes collected in the field. Plasmodium falciparum was detected from 15.2% of 1-parous mosquitoes, Anopheles farauti, in the Solomon Islands through use of the PCR method. A novel mathematical model was developed to estimate the sporozoite rate based on the malaria-positive rate of 1-parous mosquitoes. Using this model, the sporozoite rate of Anopheles farauti in the Solomon Islands was calculated to be 0.09%. This method enables estimation of the sporozoite rate based on a relatively small number (100-200) of mosquitoes compared with the number needed for the ELISA method.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Zoology, Kagawa Medical University, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harada
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishikawa
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suguri
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D009033:Culicidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D007303:Insect Vectors; D008288:Malaria / Q000469:parasitology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000254:growth & development*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction