Mueller Ivo, Zimmerman Peter A, Reeder John C
Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Madang MAD511, Papua New Guinea.
Trends Parasitol. 2007 Jun;23(6):278-83. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2007.04.009. Epub 2007 Apr 24.
Although Plasmodium malariae was first described as an infectious disease of humans by Golgi in 1886 and Plasmodium ovale identified by Stevens in 1922, there are still large gaps in our knowledge of the importance of these infections as causes of malaria in different parts of the world. They have traditionally been thought of as mild illnesses that are caused by rare and, in case of P. ovale, short-lived parasites. However, recent advances in sensitive PCR diagnosis are causing a re-evaluation of this assumption. Low-level infection seems to be common across malaria-endemic areas, often as complex mixed infections. The potential interactions of P. malariae and P. ovale with Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax might explain some basic questions of malaria epidemiology, and understanding these interactions could have an important influence on the deployment of interventions such as malaria vaccines.
尽管间日疟原虫于1886年被高尔基体首次描述为人类的一种传染病，卵形疟原虫于1922年被史蒂文斯鉴定，但在我们对这些感染作为世界各地疟疾病因的重要性的认识上仍存在很大差距。传统上，它们被认为是由罕见的寄生虫（对于卵形疟原虫来说是寿命短暂的寄生虫）引起的轻症疾病。然而，敏感的聚合酶链反应（PCR）诊断技术的最新进展正在促使人们重新评估这一假设。低水平感染似乎在疟疾流行地区很常见，通常是复杂的混合感染。间日疟原虫和卵形疟原虫与恶性疟原虫和间日疟原虫之间的潜在相互作用可能解释疟疾流行病学的一些基本问题，而了解这些相互作用可能会对疟疾疫苗等干预措施的部署产生重要影响。
