The Genetic Fingerprint of Transmission Every time a malaria parasite reproduces, it creates an opportunity to trace ancestry. When two parasites share large segments of identical DNA, it’s not coincidence—it’s evidence of recent common inheritance. This is Identity by Descent (IBD), and it’s revolutionizing how we understand malaria transmission.
Unlike traditional surveillance that tracks where people get infected, IBD tracks where parasites came from. This molecular genealogy reveals:
Transmission chains — Which infections are connected?
The Hidden Complexity Inside When a mosquito infected with malaria bites a person, we typically think of it as transmitting “malaria.” But the reality is far more complex. That single mosquito bite might be transmitting one parasite strain—or five, or ten distinct genetic clones simultaneously.
Complexity of Infection (COI) is the number of genetically distinct malaria parasite clones present in a single infection. Understanding COI is crucial for:
Transmission intensity assessment — High COI indicates high transmission Drug resistance monitoring — Polyclonal infections complicate resistance detection Vaccine evaluation — Multiple strains can confound efficacy estimates Elimination strategies — Low COI suggests transmission can be interrupted But measuring COI is surprisingly challenging.
In a cross-sectional molecular study in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 78% of households had ≥1 member infected with Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, and/or Plasmodium ovale spp.; 47% of children and 33% of adults tested positive for …
Reports of P. vivax infections among Duffy-negative hosts have accumulated throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Despite this growing body of evidence, no nationally representative epidemiological surveys of P. vivax in sub-Saharan Africa have been …
Despite evidence that older children and adolescents bear the highest burden of malaria, large malaria surveys focus on younger children. We used polymerase chain reaction data from the 2013-2014 Demographic and Health Survey in the Democratic …
BACKGROUND: Plasmodium ovale is an understudied malaria species prevalent throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. Little is known about the distribution of ovale malaria and risk factors for infection in areas of high malaria endemicity. METHODS: …
Atovaquone-proguanil remains effective against multidrug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum in Southeast Asia, but resistance is mediated by a single point mutation in cytochrome b (cytb) that can arise during treatment. Among 14 atovaquone-proguanil …