Thesis
Epidemiology of Latency and Relapse in Plasmodium vivax Malaria
(2015)
Abstract
Malaria is a major contributor to health burdens throughout the regions where it is endemic. Historically, it was believed that there was limited morbidity and essentially no mortality associated with Plasmodium vivax; however, evidence from diverse settings now suggests that infections with P. vivax can be both severe and fatal. This awareness has highlighted a critical gap: the vast majority of research has been directed towards P. falciparum, leading to a decades-long neglect of epidemiological and clinical studies of P. vivax. There exists a large body of historical data on human experimental infections with P. vivax; these studies in controlled settings provided a wealth of wide-ranging statements based on expert opinion, which form the basis for much of what is currently known about P. vivax. In this thesis, portions of this evidence-base have been re-examined using modern epidemiological analyses with two aims: to critically examine this accumulated knowledge base, and to inform current research agendas towards global malaria elimination for all species of Plasmodium. Chapter 2 examines geographic variation in the epidemiology of P. vivax, especially the timing of incubation periods and of relapses, by origin of the parasites. Chapter 3 re-assesses the impact of sporozoite dosage upon incubation and pre-patent periods; Chapter 4 provides well-defined mathematical distributions for incubation and relapses periods in experimental infections, and explores their epidemiological impacts using simple transmission models. Chapter 5 examines the epidemiology of mixed-strain P. vivax infections and compares these results with studies in murine models and general ecological theory; and Chapter 6 clarifies the origin of the Madagascar strain of P. vivax.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2015
Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Public Health (Epidemiology)
Citation Information
Andrew A. Lover. "Epidemiology of Latency and Relapse in Plasmodium vivax Malaria" (2015) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/andrew-lover/18/
Creative Commons license
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY International License.