Helminth-infected patients with malaria: a low profile transmission hub? - Inserm - Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Malaria Journal Année : 2012

Helminth-infected patients with malaria: a low profile transmission hub?

Résumé

ABSTRACT: Eclipsed by the debates about malaria incidence and severity in individual patients, malaria transmission in helminth-infected persons has so far received very little attention. Studies in humans have shown increased malaria incidence and prevalence, and a trend for a reduction of symptoms in patients with malaria. This suggests that such patients could possibly be less likely to seek treatment thus carrying malaria parasites and their gametocytes for longer durations, therefore, being a greater potential source of transmission. In addition, in humans, a study showed increased gametocyte carriage, and in an animal model of helminth-malaria co-infection, there was increased malaria transmission. These elements converge towards the hypothesis that patients co-infected with worms and malaria may represent a hub of malaria transmission. The test of this hypothesis requires verifying, in different epidemiological settings, that helminth-infected patients have more gametocytes, that they have less symptomatic malaria and longer-lasting infections, and that they are more attractive for the vectors. The negative outcome in one setting of one of the above aspects does not necessarily mean that the other two aspects may suffice to increase transmission. If it is verified that patients co-infected by worms and malaria could be a transmission hub, this would be an interesting piece of strategic information in the context of the spread of anti-malarial resistance and the malaria eradication attempts.
Fichier principal
Vignette du fichier
1475-2875-11-376.pdf (95.75 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
1475-2875-11-376.xml (30.01 Ko) Télécharger le fichier
Origine : Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte
Format : Autre
Loading...

Dates et versions

inserm-00758017 , version 1 (27-11-2012)

Identifiants

Citer

Mathieu Nacher. Helminth-infected patients with malaria: a low profile transmission hub?. Malaria Journal, 2012, 11 (1), pp.376. ⟨10.1186/1475-2875-11-376⟩. ⟨inserm-00758017⟩

Collections

INSERM UNIV-AG
75 Consultations
152 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More