Kołodziej Daria, Richert Wanesa, Świetlik Dariusz, Korzeniewski Krzysztof
Department of Epidemiology and Tropical Medicine, Military Institute of Medicine-National Research Institute, 128 Szaserów St., 04-141 Warsaw, Poland.
Department of Biostatistics and Neural Networks, Medical University of Gdańsk, 1 Dębinki St., 80-211 Gdańsk, Poland.
Pathogens. 2024 Aug 12;13(8):682. doi: 10.3390/pathogens13080682.
Malaria is a significant health problem in Africa, primarily due to the species, but this is not the only etiological factor responsible for malaria on the continent. The goal of the present research was to describe asymptomatic malaria cases and to identify species responsible for malaria in the BaAka Pygmies, inhabitants of the Central African Republic (CAR). Screening was realised in the period of August-September 2021 among 308 people, including 74 children and 234 adults reporting to a healthcare facility in Monasao (southwest CAR), an area inhabited by a semi-nomadic tribe of BaAka Pygmies. The study consisted of two phases. Phase I, which was conducted in Africa, consisted of performing malaria rapid diagnostic tests (mRDTs), taking haemoglobin measurements and collecting blood samples onto Whatman FTA cards for molecular diagnostics. Phase II, which was conducted in Poland, involved molecular tests (RT-PCR) to confirm or rule out malaria infections and to identify species responsible for the infections. mRDTs detected infections in 50.3% of children and 17.1% of adults participating in the study, whereas RT-PCR assays yielded positive results for 59.5% children and 28.6% adults. Molecular tests detected multiple infections but also three infections with , three with and one with The obtained results have confirmed numerous asymptomatic infections among the BaAka Pygmies. The rates of asymptomatic malaria cases in adults were twice as high as those in children, which may be indicative of the gradual acquisition of protective immunity with age. The study findings have also demonstrated that although most cases of malaria in Africa are caused by , three other species are also present in the region.
疟疾是非洲一个严重的健康问题，主要归因于该物种，但这并非非洲大陆疟疾的唯一病因。本研究的目的是描述无症状疟疾病例，并确定中非共和国（CAR）居民巴阿卡俾格米人中导致疟疾的物种。2021年8月至9月期间，对308人进行了筛查，其中包括74名儿童和234名成年人，他们前往莫纳绍（中非共和国西南部）的一家医疗机构，该地区居住着半游牧的巴阿卡俾格米部落。该研究包括两个阶段。第一阶段在非洲进行，包括进行疟疾快速诊断测试（mRDTs）、测量血红蛋白，并在Whatman FTA卡上采集血样用于分子诊断。第二阶段在波兰进行，涉及分子测试（RT-PCR），以确认或排除疟疾感染，并确定导致感染的物种。mRDTs在参与研究的50.3%的儿童和17.1%的成年人中检测到感染，而RT-PCR检测在59.5%的儿童和28.6%的成年人中得出阳性结果。分子测试检测到多种感染，但也检测到三例 感染、三例 感染和一例 感染。获得的结果证实了巴阿卡俾格米人中有大量无症状 感染。成年人无症状疟疾病例的发生率是儿童的两倍，这可能表明随着年龄增长逐渐获得了保护性免疫力。研究结果还表明，尽管非洲的大多数疟疾病例是由 引起的，但该地区也存在其他三种物种。
