title: Failure to detect Plasmodium vivax in West and Central Africa by PCR species typing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Plasmodium vivax is estimated to affect 75 million people annually. It is reportedly absent, however, from west and central Africa due to the high prevalence of the Duffy negative phenotype in the indigenous populations. Despite this, non-African travellers consistently return to their own countries with P. vivax malaria after visiting this region. An attempt was made, therefore, to detect the presence of P. vivax parasites in blood samples collected from the indigenous populations of west and central Africa.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parasite species typing (for all four human malaria parasites) was carried out by PCR on 2,588 blood samples collected from individuals from nine African malaria-endemic countries.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most infections (98.5%) were Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium malariae was identified in 8.5% of all infections, and Plasmodium ovale in 3.9%. The prevalence of both parasites varied greatly by country. Only one case of P. vivax was detected from Sao Tome, an island off the west coast of Africa, confirming the scarcity of this parasite in Africa.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of P. vivax in local populations in sub-Saharan Africa is very low, despite the frequent identification of this parasite in non-African travellers.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Malariology, International Research Centre of Infectious Diseases, Research Institute of Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan. richard@nagasaki-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Culleton
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mita
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ndounga
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Unger
authors.forename: Pedro V L
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Cravo
authors.forename: Giacomo M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Paganotti
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eto
authors.forename: Halidou
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tinto
authors.forename: Corine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karema
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: D'Alessandro
authors.forename: Virgilio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: do Rosário
authors.forename: Takatoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayakawa
authors.forename: Francine
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ntoumi
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Kazuyuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanabe
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000350:Africa, Central / Q000453:epidemiology; D000354:Africa, Western / Q000453:epidemiology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood / Q000469:parasitology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010965:Plasmodium malariae / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D041122:Plasmodium ovale / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D010966:Plasmodium vivax / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D044382:Population Groups; D015995:Prevalence; D014195:Travel
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