Impact of an Irrigation Dam on the Transmission and Diversity of Plasmodium falciparum in a Seasonal Malaria Transmission Area of Northern Ghana
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Date
2020-03-19
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Tropical Medicine
Abstract
Water bodies such as dams are known to alter the local transmission patterns of a number of infectious diseases, especially those
transmitted by insects and other arthropod vectors. (e impact of an irrigation dam on submicroscopic asexual parasite carriage
in individuals living in a seasonal malaria transmission area of northern Ghana was investigated. A total of 288 archived DNA
samples from two cross-sectional surveys in two communities in the Bongo District of Northern Ghana were analysed. Parasite
density was determined by light microscopy and PCR, and parasite diversity was assessed by genotyping of the polymorphic
Plasmodium falciparum msp2 block-3 region. Submicroscopic parasitaemia was estimated as the proportional difference between
positive samples identified by PCR and microscopy. Dry season submicroscopic parasite prevalence was significantly higher
(71.0%, p = 0.013) at the dam site compared with the nondam site (49.2%). Similarly, wet season submicroscopic parasite
prevalence was significantly higher at the dam site (54.5%, p = 0.008) compared with the nondam site (33.0%). (ere was no
difference in parasite density between sites in the dry season (p = 0.90) and in the wet season (p < 0.85). Multiplicity of infection
(MOI) based on PCR data was significantly higher at the dam site compared with the nondam site during the dry season
(p < 0.0001) but similar between sites during the wet season. MOI at the nondam site was significantly higher in the wet season
than in the dry season (2.49, 1.26, p < 0.0001) but similar between seasons at the dam site. Multivariate analysis showed higher
odds of carrying submicroscopic parasites at the dam site in both dry season (OR = 7.46, 95% CI = 3.07–18.15) and in wet season
(OR = 1.73, 95% CI = 1.04–2.86). (e study findings suggest that large water bodies impact year-round carriage of submicroscopic
parasites and sustain Plasmodium transmission
Description
Research Article
Keywords
malaria, Plasmodium, submicroscopic, Ghana