The prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum histidine rich protein 2 and histidine rich protein 3 genetic deletions and its association with malaria severity among Malawian children aged 1 to 12 years.
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Date
2021-07-15
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Kamuzu University of Health Sciences
Abstract
Type of study:
This is a quantitative cross-sectional study which will use samples from children diagnosed with
malaria in the period from December 2018 to June, 2021.The patients will be categorized in three
groups based on the malaria severity; asymptomatic cases, uncomplicated cases and severe
malaria cases.
The Problem
The World Health Organization(WHO) recommended the use of Rapid Diagnostic Tests(RDTs)
which target Histidine Rich Protein 2 and Histidine Rich Protein 3 gene (HRP 2/3) to detect
malaria. Recent reports of the emerging spread of mutant parasites that fail to express
Plasmodium HRP2/3 has complicated the usefulness of RDT’s as Plasmodium infections may be
missed and contribute to poor management of malaria especially in vulnerable groups like
children.
Objective
To determine the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) HRP2/3 genetic deletions and its
association with malaria severity among Malawian children with a malaria.
Methodology
The proposed study will use cross-sectional study design to determine the prevalence of HRP2/3
genetic deletion and its association with malaria severity among children aged 1 to 12 years
diagnosed with malaria at Queen Elizabeth Central hospital and Ntaja Health center. The
Polymerase chain reaction(PCR) also known as PfHRP2/3 deletion assay will be used to determine
presence or absence of Plasmodium falciparum strains carrying HRP deletion genes. The
descriptive statistics will be used to describe the characteristics of children recruited in the study.
The prevalence of PfHRP2/3 will also be presented with 95 percent confidence interval. The chisquared
test will be performed to see the association of HRP2/3 deletion with each disease
severity group. Furthermore, logistic regression analysis will be conducted to determine the
association of malaria severity with the HRP2/3 gene deletion.
Expected findings and dissemination
We anticipate to find PfHRP2/3 deletion genes in Plasmodium falciparum that affects the
performance of HRP2/3 based RDTs and its association with severity of malaria disease. The
results will be shared with College of Medicine Research Ethics Committee(COMREC), policy
makers, Blantyre Malaria Project(BMP) and publish in journal papers.
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Research Subject Categories::MEDICINE