A systematic review of asymptomatic Plasmodium knowlesi infection: an emerging challenge involving an emerging infectious disease

Abstract Background In the last decade Plasmodium knowlesi has been detected in humans throughout South East Asia. The highest risk groups for this infection are males, adults and those performing forest-related work. Furthermore, asymptomatic cases of P. knowlesi malaria have been reported includin...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Malaria Journal
Main Authors: Nurul Athirah Naserrudin, Mohd Rohaizat Hassan, Mohammad Saffree Jeffree, Richard Culleton, Rozita Hod, Kamruddin Ahmed
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: BMC 2022
Subjects:
Plasmodium knowlesi
Zoonotic malaria
Asymptomatic infection
Asymptomatic characteristic
Malaria epidemiology
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine
RC955-962
Infectious and parasitic diseases
RC109-216
Arctic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-022-04339-8
https://doaj.org/article/2e6a36901129437ea9aa177d6277ee19
Description
Summary:Abstract Background In the last decade Plasmodium knowlesi has been detected in humans throughout South East Asia. The highest risk groups for this infection are males, adults and those performing forest-related work. Furthermore, asymptomatic cases of P. knowlesi malaria have been reported including among women and children. Methods Pubmed, Scopus and the Web of Science databases for literature describing asymptomatic P. knowlesi malaria published between 2010 and 2020 were searched. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify studies reporting the prevalence and incidence of laboratory confirmed asymptomatic P. knowlesi cases in humans, their clinical and demographic characteristics, and methods used to diagnose these cases. Results By analysing over 102 papers, thirteen were eligible for this review. Asymptomatic P. knowlesi infections have been detected in 0.03%–4.0% of the population depending on region, and infections have been described in children as young as 2 years old. Various different diagnostic methods were used to detect P. knowlesi cases and there were differing definitions of asymptomatic cases in these studies. The literature indicates that regionally-differing immune-related mechanisms may play a part on the prevalence of asymptomatic P. knowlesi. Conclusion Differing epidemiological characteristics of asymptomatic P. knowlesi malaria in different regions reinforces the need to further investigate disease transmission mechanics. Effective public health responses to changes in P. knowlesi epidemiology require proactive intervention and multisectoral collaboration.

Similar Items