Human Parasitic Diseases 2016:8 37-41
Original Research
Published on 18 Jul 2016
DOI: 10.4137/HPD.S40183
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Background: This study aimed at determining the prevalence of asymptomatic cases of malaria in Puerto Lempira, the municipality with the highest morbidity in Honduras.
Methods and findings: Capillary blood was collected from 1,899 participants. All samples were analyzed through microscopy and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique based on the amplification of species-specific repetitive sequences. The molecular approach was more sensitive than microscopy to detect asymptomatic infections (1.1% vs. 0.16%).
Conclusions: Although the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria was low in this population, new strategies such as active case detection and PCR-based surveys could become useful tools for countries aspiring to initiate the pre-elimination phase of malaria in the Americas.
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