"Asymptomatic" Malaria: A Chronic and Debilitating Infection That Should Be Treated

Ingrid Chen, Siân E Clarke, Roly Gosling, Busiku Hamainza, Gerry Killeen, Alan Magill, Wendy O'Meara, Ric N Price, Eleanor M Riley, Ingrid Chen, Siân E Clarke, Roly Gosling, Busiku Hamainza, Gerry Killeen, Alan Magill, Wendy O'Meara, Ric N Price, Eleanor M Riley

Abstract

Roland Gosling and colleagues argue that "asymptomatic" malaria infections have significant health and societal consequences, and propose that they should be renamed "chronic" malaria infections.

Conflict of interest statement

We have read the journal's policy and have the following conflicts: One of the authors (AM) works for a major funder.

Figures

Fig 1. Spectrum of malaria infection.
Fig 1. Spectrum of malaria infection.
The figure shows increasing risks of morbidity, co-morbidity, mortality, and onward transmission as density of parasitemia increases. Note that malaria RDTs or microscopy are unable to detect low-density chronic infections below the threshold indicated and that infections of very low density are undetectable by PCR [64].

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