title: Molecular evidence of Plasmodium vivax infection in Duffy negative symptomatic individuals from Dschang, West Cameroon.
abstract: Plasmodium vivax infection is known to be rare in West/Central Africa, the most accepted explanation being the lack of expression of erythroid Duffy antigen in the local human populations. Duffy negativity prevents the parasite to exploit the entry mechanism on the red blood cell surface. However, there are a growing number of reported vivax infections in Duffy-negative individuals. Data on P. vivax circulation in Cameroon are limited. The aim of the study was to evaluate the P. vivax presence, and its association with the Duffy genotype in West Cameroon.
  
  
  
  Overall, 484 blood samples were collected consecutively from febrile outpatients attending the Dschang's Hospital (West Cameroon) during a 3-months period. Plasmodium vivax infection was detected by PCR in 5.6% (n = 27/484) of the cases, representing 38.6% (n = 27/70) of all Plasmodium infections detected. All P. vivax infected individuals showed a Duffy-negative genotype, and the frequency of Duffy-positive individuals in the whole tested population was 1.7%.
  
  
  
  The results of this study confirm the circulation of P. vivax in Cameroon, as well as that the lack of expression of Duffy-antigen does not confer full protection against vivax malaria acquisition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 00185, Rome, Italy. gianluca.russo@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8764-7389
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Immunology and Experimental Medicine, Army Medical and Veterinary Research Centre, Via di Santo Stefano Rotondo, 00184, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Faggioni
authors.affiliation: BUP Core Laboratory, Botswana-University of Pennsylvania Partnership (BUP), P O Box AC 157 ACH, Gaborone, Botswana.
authors.forename: Giacomo Maria
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Paganotti
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 00185, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Ghyslaine Bruna
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Djeunang Dongho
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Immunology and Experimental Medicine, Army Medical and Veterinary Research Centre, Via di Santo Stefano Rotondo, 00184, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pomponi
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Immunology and Experimental Medicine, Army Medical and Veterinary Research Centre, Via di Santo Stefano Rotondo, 00184, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Santis
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 00185, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianpiero
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tebano
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Dschang, BP 96, Dschang, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Mpoame
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mbida
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Dschang, BP 96, Dschang, Cameroon.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sanou Sobze
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro, 00185, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vullo
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immune-mediated Diseases, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rezza
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Immunology and Experimental Medicine, Army Medical and Veterinary Research Centre, Via di Santo Stefano Rotondo, 00184, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Florigio Romano
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Lista
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002163:Cameroon / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004375:Duffy Blood-Group System / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004375:Duffy Blood-Group System
keywords: Cameroon; Duffy antigen genotype; Malaria; Plasmodium vivax