Indigenous Plasmodium ovale malaria in Bangladesh.
In spite of the high prevalence of malaria in Southeastern Bangladesh, there remains a significant shortage of information regarding the presence of three of five human malaria parasites: Plasmodium ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi. The presence of P. ovale and P. knowlesi has previously never been reported from Bangladesh. We used a genus- and species-specific nested polymerase chain reaction, targeting highly conserved regions of the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) gene, to investigate the presence of malaria parasites in a total number of 379 patient samples in a survey of patients with febrile illnesses in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Southeastern Bangladesh. We identified the first cases of P. ovale in Bangladesh. They were confirmed by sequence analysis; 189 of 379 samples (49.9%; 95% confidence interval = 44.9-54.9%) were positive for Plasmodium sp. by PCR. P. falciparum monoinfections accounted for 68.3% (61.3-74.5%), followed by P. vivax (15.3%; 10.9-21.2%), P. malariae (1.6%; 0.5-4.6%), P. ovale (1.6%; 0.5-4.6%), and mixed infections (13.2%; 9.1-18.8%). We found no evidence of P. knowlesi in this region.
Fuehrer
Hans-Peter
HP
Department of Specific Prophylaxis and Tropical Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Starzengruber
Peter
P
Swoboda
Paul
P
Khan
Wasif Ali
WA
Matt
Julia
J
Ley
Benedikt
B
Thriemer
Kamala
K
Haque
Rashidul
R
Yunus
Emran Bin
EB
Hossain
Shah Monir
SM
Walochnik
Julia
J
Noedl
Harald
H
D000818:Animals; D001459:Bangladesh; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000469:parasitology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000472:pathogenicity; D041122:Plasmodium ovale / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D015995:Prevalence; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000032:analysis*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013045:Species Specificity
D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S