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Spatio-temporal dynamics of Plasmodium falciparum transmission within a spatial unit on the Colombian Pacific Coast.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Knudson, Angélica 
González-Casabianca, Felipe 
Feged-Rivadeneira, Alejandro  ORCID logo  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8649-4213
Pedreros, Maria Fernanda 
Aponte, Samanda 

Abstract

As malaria control programmes concentrate their efforts towards malaria elimination a better understanding of malaria transmission patterns at fine spatial resolution units becomes necessary. Defining spatial units that consider transmission heterogeneity, human movement and migration will help to set up achievable malaria elimination milestones and guide the creation of efficient operational administrative control units. Using a combination of genetic and epidemiological data we defined a malaria transmission unit as the area contributing 95% of malaria cases diagnosed at the catchment facility located in the town of Guapi in the South Pacific Coast of Colombia. We provide data showing that P. falciparum malaria transmission is heterogeneous in time and space and analysed, using topological data analysis, the spatial connectivity, at the micro epidemiological level, between parasite populations circulating within the unit. To illustrate the necessity to evaluate the efficacy of malaria control measures within the transmission unit in order to increase the efficiency of the malaria control effort, we provide information on the size of the asymptomatic reservoir, the nature of parasite genotypes associated with drug resistance as well as the frequency of the Pfhrp2/3 deletion associated with false negatives when using Rapid Diagnostic Tests.

Description

Keywords

Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Antigens, Protozoan, Child, Child, Preschool, Colombia, Drug Resistance, Female, Gene Deletion, Humans, Infant, Malaria, Falciparum, Male, Middle Aged, Plasmodium falciparum, Protozoan Proteins

Journal Title

Sci Rep

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2045-2322
2045-2322

Volume Title

10

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (090770/Z/09/Z)