Publication: Genetic analysis of Plasmodium falciparum infections on the north-western border of Thailand
Issued Date
1999-01-01
Resource Type
ISSN
00359203
Other identifier(s)
2-s2.0-0033397070
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Mahidol University
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SCOPUS
Bibliographic Citation
Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Vol.93, No.6 (1999), 587-593
Suggested Citation
R. E.L. Paul, A. Brockman, R. N. Price, C. Luxemburger, N. J. White, S. Looareesuwan, F. Nosten, K. P. Day Genetic analysis of Plasmodium falciparum infections on the north-western border of Thailand. Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Vol.93, No.6 (1999), 587-593. doi:10.1016/S0035-9203(99)90057-3 Retrieved from: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/25473
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Title
Genetic analysis of Plasmodium falciparum infections on the north-western border of Thailand
Abstract
Genetic characterization of Plasmodium falciparum infections in north-western Thailand, a region of low transmission intensity (1 infection/person each year), has found a comparable number of parasite genotypes per infected person to regions with hyperendemic malaria. Clone multiplicity and parasite diversity were found to be homogeneous across 129 infected individuals comprising a range of age-groups (1.32 parasite genotypes; n = 98), patients (aged 2-16 years) with recrudescent infections (1.54; n = 13), and pregnant women (1.61; n = 18). Individuals belonging to groups with a high risk of infection, as deduced by clinical epidemiology, did not harbour a higher number of clones per infection, nor greater parasite diversity than low-risk groups. In fact, multiple genotype infections were as common in low-risk groups, suggesting that there is frequent transmission of polyclonal infections from a single inoculum, rather than superinfection. Such a polyclonal transmission system would enable generation of extensive parasite diversity by recombination, despite the low level of transmission. However, co-infection with P. vivax was associated with fewer P. falciparum genotypes per infection.