High Prevalence of Asymptomatic<i>Plasmodium falciparum</i>Infections in a Highland Area of Western Kenya: A Cohort Study

Abstract

The prevalence of asymptomatic P. falciparum infection was high, with polymerase chain reaction analysis detecting a significantly greater number of infections, compared with microscopy. Our results are consistent with gradual acquisition of immunity with increasing age upon repeated infection, and they also show that the risk of malaria transmission is highly heterogeneous in the highland area. The results provide strong support for targeted malaria-control interventions.