AJTMH Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 54(6), 1996, pp. 613-619
Copyright © 1996 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rogier, C.
Right arrow Articles by Trape, J.-F.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rogier, C.
Right arrow Articles by Trape, J.-F.

Evidence for an Age-Dependent Pyrogenic Threshold of Plasmodium falciparum Parasitemia in Highly Endemic Populations

Christophe Rogier, Daniel Commenges AND Jean-Francois Trape
Institut Pasteur de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal; Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (INSERM), Unite 330, Universite de Bordeaux II, Bordeaux, France; Institut Francais de Recherche Scientifique pour le Developpement en Cooperation (ORSTOM), Dakar, Senegal

The high prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infections and the nonspecific signs and symptoms of the disease make the individual diagnosis of clinical malaria uncertain in highly endemic areas. Longitudinal data obtained during a four-month period from a daily survey of 200 permanent inhabitants (one month-83 years old) living in a holoendemic area were analyzed in a random-effects logistic regression model to investigate the relationship between the level of Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia and risk of fever. It was not possible to build a model that described/summarized correctly this relationship by a continuous function. Findings provide evidence for an age-dependent threshold effect of parasitemia on the occurrence of fever. The level of this threshold varied by 2.45 trophozoites per leukocyte, maximum at one year of age, to 0.5 trophozoites per leukocyte, minimum at 60 years of age. When the parasite density of a person crossed the threshold level corresponding to his or her age, the individual's risk of fever was multiplied by 44 (95% confidence interval = 13.6–144.8). The existence of this threshold effect allows parasite density to be used to distinguish malaria attacks from other causes of fever within an individual and should facilitate the accurate evaluation of the incidence of clinical malaria in highly endemic areas.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Clin. Microbiol. Rev.Home page
C. K. Murray, R. A. Gasser Jr., A. J. Magill, and R. S. Miller
Update on Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Malaria
Clin. Microbiol. Rev., January 1, 2008; 21(1): 97 - 110.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am J Trop Med HygHome page
K. A. Koram and M. E. Molyneux
When Is "Malaria" Malaria? The Different Burdens of Malaria Infection, Malaria Disease, and Malaria-Like Illnesses
Am J Trop Med Hyg, December 1, 2007; 77(6_Suppl): 1 - 5.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Am J Trop Med HygHome page
T. SMITH, A. ROSS, N. MAIRE, C. ROGIER, J.-F. TRAPE, and L. MOLINEAUX
AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC MODEL OF THE INCIDENCE OF ACUTE ILLNESS IN PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM MALARIA.
Am J Trop Med Hyg, August 1, 2006; 75(2_suppl): 56 - 62.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1996 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.