Title
Epidemiology of Plasmodium vivax malaria in Peru
Date Issued
01 January 2016
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
Abstract
Malaria in Peru, dominated by Plasmodium vivax, remains a public health problem. The 1990s saw newly epidemic malaria emerge, primarily in the Loreto Department in the Amazon region, including areas near to Iquitos, the capital city, but sporadic malaria transmission also occurred in the 1990s-2000s in both north-coastal Peru and the gold mining regions of southeastern Peru. Although a Global Fund-supported intervention (PAMAFRO, 2005-2010) was temporally associated with a decrease of malaria transmission, from 2012 to the present, both P. Vivax and Plasmodium falciparum malaria cases have rapidly increased. The Peruvian Ministry of Health continues to provide artemesininbased combination therapy for microscopy-confirmed cases of P. Falciparum and chloroquine-primaquine for P. Vivax. Malaria transmission continues in remote areas nonetheless, where the mobility of humans and parasites facilitates continued reintroduction outside of ongoing surveillance activities, which is critical to address for future malaria control and elimination efforts. Ongoing P. Vivax research gaps in Peru include the following: identification of asymptomatic parasitemics, quantification of the contribution of patent and subpatent parasitemics to mosquito transmission, diagnosis of nonparasitemic hypnozoite carriers, and implementation of surveillance for potential emergence of chloroquine- and 8-aminoquinoline-resistant P. Vivax. Clinical trials of tafenoquine in Peru have been promising, and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in the region has not been observed to be a limitation to its use. Larger-scale challenges for P. Vivax (and malaria in general) in Peru include logistical difficulties in accessing remote riverine populations, consequences of government policy and poverty trends, and obtaining international funding for malaria control and elimination.
Start page
133
End page
144
Volume
95
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Epidemiología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85014593287
PubMed ID
Source
American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
ISSN of the container
0002-9637
Sponsor(s)
This work was supported by the following: U.S. Public Health Service grants U19AI089681, D43TW007120, and K24AI068903 (Joseph M. Vinetz), and D43TW007393 (Andres G. Lescano) from the U.S. National Institutes of Health; "Strengthening the diagnosis, treatment and surveillance strategies for malaria control and elimination in the Peruvian Amazon" Agency: L'Académie Belge de Recherche et d'Enseignement supérieur-Commission de la Coopération au Développement (ARES-CCD); "Círculo de Investigación Nro. 4: Hacia la eliminación de la malaria en el Perú," (Convenio de Financiamiento No 008-2014-FONDECYT); and "Producción-Evaluación de antígenos candidatos a vacunas y desarrollo de pruebas diagnósticas rápidas para Plasmodium falciparum en la Amazonía peruana" (178-FINCyT-IB-2013).
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus