Iatreia (Oct 2012)
Mixed malaria: prevalence in Colombia and Latin America = Malaria mixta: prevalencia en Colombia y América Latina
Abstract
Background: Mixed plasmodial infection (MxPI) and mixed malaria (MxM) are poorly understood.Objective: To review information about MxPI/MxM and to collect and organize Colombian and Latin American data.Methods: systematic review on MxIP/MxM; the terms ‘mixed malaria’ or ‘malaria mixta’ were used for a search in PubMed and Lilacs.Results and conclusions: Information retrieved was scarce, disperse and difficult to find. MxPI/MxM is underestimated by microscopy (thick blood smear). A second plasmodial species is often detected after successful treatment for infection with another. Epidemiological behavior of MxPI/MxM is variable and depends on transmission intensity and stability, rain cycles, age of patients and anopheline fauna. In Latin America, according to the results of thick blood smear, 0.46% of confirmed infections were MxPI, and with PCR, that proportion reached 12.78%. In Colombia, between 2001 and 2010, MxM (1.839 cases per year) represented an average of 1.44% of the total malaria cases. To our knowledge, this is the first report about baseline data on MxPI/MxM in Colombia and Latin America.
