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Genetic evidence that the Makira region in northeastern Madagascar is a hotspot of malaria transmission

Overview of attention for article published in Malaria Journal, December 2016
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Title
Genetic evidence that the Makira region in northeastern Madagascar is a hotspot of malaria transmission
Published in
Malaria Journal, December 2016
DOI 10.1186/s12936-016-1644-4
Pubmed ID
Authors

Benjamin L. Rice, Christopher D. Golden, Evelin Jean Gasta Anjaranirina, Carolina Mastella Botelho, Sarah K. Volkman, Daniel L. Hartl

Abstract

Encouraging advances in the control of Plasmodium falciparum malaria have been observed across much of Africa in the past decade. However, regions of high relative prevalence and transmission that remain unaddressed or unrecognized provide a threat to this progress. Difficulties in identifying such localized hotspots include inadequate surveillance, especially in remote regions, and the cost and labor needed to produce direct estimates of transmission. Genetic data can provide a much-needed alternative to such empirical estimates, as the pattern of genetic variation within malaria parasite populations is indicative of the level of local transmission. Here, genetic data were used to provide the first empirical estimates of P. falciparum malaria prevalence and transmission dynamics for the rural, remote Makira region of northeastern Madagascar. Longitudinal surveys of a cohort of 698 total individuals (both sexes, 0-74 years of age) were performed in two communities bordering the Makira Natural Park protected area. Rapid diagnostic tests, with confirmation by molecular methods, were used to estimate P. falciparum prevalence at three seasonal time points separated by 4-month intervals. Genomic loci in a panel of polymorphic, putatively neutral markers were genotyped for 94 P. falciparum infections and used to characterize genetic parameters known to correlate with transmission levels. Overall, 27.8% of individuals tested positive for P. falciparum over the 10-month course of the study, a rate approximately sevenfold higher than the countrywide average for Madagascar. Among those P. falciparum infections, a high level of genotypic diversity and a high frequency of polygenomic infections (68.1%) were observed, providing a pattern consistent with high and stable transmission. Prevalence and genetic diversity data indicate that the Makira region is a hotspot of P. falciparum transmission in Madagascar. This suggests that the area should be highlighted for future interventions and that additional areas of high transmission may be present in ecologically similar regions nearby.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 54 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Madagascar 1 2%
Unknown 53 98%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Ph. D. Student 10 19%
Student > Master 9 17%
Student > Bachelor 7 13%
Researcher 6 11%
Student > Doctoral Student 5 9%
Other 1 2%
Unknown 16 30%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 8 15%
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology 7 13%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 7 13%
Environmental Science 3 6%
Computer Science 3 6%
Other 7 13%
Unknown 19 35%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 23 December 2016.
All research outputs
#14,753,951
of 22,919,505 outputs
Outputs from Malaria Journal
#4,216
of 5,581 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#239,826
of 420,738 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Malaria Journal
#74
of 103 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 22,919,505 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 35th percentile – i.e., 35% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 5,581 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 6.8. This one is in the 23rd percentile – i.e., 23% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 420,738 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 42nd percentile – i.e., 42% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 103 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 28th percentile – i.e., 28% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.