Preventive Measures and Diagnosis of Asymptomatic Malaria in Northwest Ethiopia

Sisay Getie , Abebe Genetu , Abebe A. Fola , Ligabaw Worku , Gebeyaw Getnet , Meseret Birhanie , Yitayih Wondimeneh , Getachew Ferede , Mengistu Endris , Agersew Alemu , Biniam Mathewos , Aberham Abere , Robert Burton , Dylan R Pillai
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.20372/ejhbs.v8i1.281
Submitted: 2021-09-08 08:10:03
Published: 2017-09-10

Background: Asymptomatic malaria poses a huge challenge in meeting the malaria, elimination goal. Due to the poor sensitivity of the common laboratory diagnostic methods of malaria like rapid diagnosis tests (RDTs) and Giemsa stained microscopy, it has often been difficult to detect asymptomatic malaria. Thus, highly sensitive, specific, and field deployable rapid molecular techniques need to be available to accurately detect the disease. This study aimed to assess the application of malaria preventive methods and to assess the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria, using the traditional Giemsa microscopy and molecular methods, such as loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and nested PCR in the study sites.

Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted from February to May 2014 in North Gondar, Ethiopia. A total of 802 participants were enrolled. Data on socio-demographic profile and associated risk factors for asymptomatic malaria were collected using face-to-face interviews. Capillary blood was collected and blood films and dried blood spots (DBS) were prepared for malaria parasite detection using microscopy, nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR), and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP).

Results: In this study, 45.3% of the participants had access to combined universal preventive measures of malaria. LAMP and nPCR were performed for 160 DBS samples. The overall prevalence of asymptomatic malaria detected using Giemsa microscopy, LAMP, and nPCR was 3.75%, 4.375% and 4.375%, respectively.     

Conclusion: A consistent use of the available malaria prevention methods was too limited to produce the intended elimination of malaria in the study area. LAMP was able to identify two extra asymptomatic malaria carriers per 100 study population. This study indicated that an active diagnosis of asymptomatic malaria with molecular techniques, like LAMP, could support malaria elimination through enhanced active case detection. Future studies should evaluate the performance of LAMP and nPCR from fresh blood samples.

 

Keywords

Asymptomatic malaria Malaria Elimination LAMP Ethiopia

Authors

Sisay Getie

Department of Medical Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Abebe Genetu

Department of Medical Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia,

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Email: abebegenetu@gmail.com

Abebe A. Fola

Department of Medical Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia,

School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences and Medicine, Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita, Ethiopia,

Ligabaw Worku

Department of Medical Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Gebeyaw Getnet

Department of Medical Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Meseret Birhanie

Department of Medical Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Yitayih Wondimeneh

Department of Medical Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Getachew Ferede

Department of Medical Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Mengistu Endris

Department of Medical Microbiology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia,

Agersew Alemu

Department of Medical Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia,

Biniam Mathewos

Department of Immunology and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Aberham Abere

Department of Medical Parasitology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia

Robert Burton

PATH, Seattle, USA

Dylan R Pillai

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

How to Cite

Sisay Getie, Abebe Genetu , Abebe A. Fola, Ligabaw Worku, Gebeyaw Getnet , Meseret Birhanie, Yitayih Wondimeneh, Getachew Ferede, Mengistu Endris, Agersew Alemu, Biniam Mathewos, Aberham Abere, Robert Burton, Dylan R Pillai (2017-09-10). Preventive Measures and Diagnosis of Asymptomatic Malaria in Northwest Ethiopia. Ethiopian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences, Vol. 8 No. 1 (2017), 31-39. https://doi.org/10.20372/ejhbs.v8i1.281

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Copyright & Licensing © Year The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) , which permits unrestricted use; sharing (copying and redistributing the material in any medium or format); and adaptation (remixing, transforming, and building upon the material for any purpose), provided the original author(s) and the source are properly cited/credited and a link to the license is provided. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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