title: Assessment of antibody responses in local and immigrant residents of areas with autochthonous malaria transmission in Greece.
abstract: Greece has been officially malaria free since 1974. However, from 2009 to 2012, several locally acquired, cases of Plasmodium vivax malaria were detected, in immigrants and in Greek citizens. In this study, the antibody (Ab) response of Greeks and immigrants with documented malaria was initially assessed, followed by an Ab screening of Greeks and immigrant residents of local transmission areas. Of the 38 patients tested, 10.5% of Greeks and 15.7% of immigrants were positive 5-7 months after infection. Of the 1,019 individuals from various areas of Greece, including those of autochthonous transmission, 85 of the 721 (11.8%) immigrants were positive, whereas all 298 Greeks were negative. The rapid Ab titer decline observed is reasonable, given the non-endemic epidemiological setting. The seroepidemiological findings indicate that the local Greek population remains malaria naive and that at this point Greeks are unlikely to serve as reservoir for the infection of local mosquitoes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP), Athens, Greece; General Hospital of Sparti, Sparti, Greece; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Evangelia-Theofano
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Piperaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP), Athens, Greece; General Hospital of Sparti, Sparti, Greece; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mavrouli
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP), Athens, Greece; General Hospital of Sparti, Sparti, Greece; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tseroni
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP), Athens, Greece; General Hospital of Sparti, Sparti, Greece; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Routsias
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP), Athens, Greece; General Hospital of Sparti, Sparti, Greece; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Athina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kallimani
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP), Athens, Greece; General Hospital of Sparti, Sparti, Greece; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Lamprini
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veneti
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP), Athens, Greece; General Hospital of Sparti, Sparti, Greece; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Georgitsou
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP), Athens, Greece; General Hospital of Sparti, Sparti, Greece; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chania
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP), Athens, Greece; General Hospital of Sparti, Sparti, Greece; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Theano
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Georgakopoulou
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP), Athens, Greece; General Hospital of Sparti, Sparti, Greece; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hadjichristodoulou
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Athens, Greece; Hellenic Center for Disease Control and Prevention (HCDCP), Athens, Greece; General Hospital of Sparti, Sparti, Greece; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Medical School, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece atsakris@med.uoa.gr athantsakris@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Athanassios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tsakris
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008288:Malaria / Q000276:immunology* / Q000635:transmission; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D020066:Merozoite Surface Protein 1 / Q000276:immunology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010865:Pilot Projects; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000276:immunology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D020066:Merozoite Surface Protein 1