title: How prevalent is Plasmodium malariae in Rondônia, western Brazilian Amazon?
abstract: We have compared results of Plasmodium species identification obtained with conventional on-site microscopy of Giemsa-stained thick smears (GTS) and a semi-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in 96 malaria patients from Rondônia, Western Brazilian Amazon. Mixed-species infections were detected by PCR in 30% patients, but no such case had been found on GTS. Moreover, P. malariae infections were detected in 9 of 96 patients (10%) by PCR, but were not identified by local microscopists. The potential impact of species misidentification on malaria treatment and control is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine of São José do Rio Preto, Brazil.
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Cavasini
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kawamoto
authors.forename: M U
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Ferreira
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010965:Plasmodium malariae; D015995:Prevalence