[b] Collaboration IPD[/b]

• Aissatou Toure & Ronald Perraut (Immunology Unit)

• Amadou A Sall, Abdourahmane Sow (Arbovirology Unit)

• Maoulouth Diallo & Ibrahima Dia (Medical Entomology Unit)

[b]Context[/b]
Despite the drastic drop in transmission, morbidity and mortality due to P. falciparum malaria nationwide in Senegal, the situation remains worrying in the South and South-West regions such as in Kédougou where the application of struggle had very limited effects. The situation is complicated by the recent discovery by our team of P. vivax in Kédougou (Niang et al. 2015. Malar J), a plasmodial species with particularly complex diagnosis and management and so far assumed to be absent in Sub-Saharan Africa. due to the strong absence of the Duffy antigen in populations. In fact, P. vivax is often present in infections with very weak parasitaemias that are difficult to detect by current methods, a condition linked to its preference for reticulocytes and its ability to go into dormancy in the liver in the form of hypnozoites capable of reactivate the plasmodial infection years after effective treatment of blood forms. In addition, the only drug effective against P. vivax, primaquine can induce severe hemolysis in subjects deficient in the enzyme Glucose 6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6PD).

[b]Goals[/b]
The studies carried out in this context generally aim to better understand the epidemiology of P. vivax infections in Kédougou. More specifically, it is about investigating:

• The prevalence (serological and molecular) of vivax in Kédougou on larger cohorts of asymptomatic subjects and patients

• The human (Duffy status of individuals infected with vivax) and parasitic determinants (amplification of the Duffy Binding protein (Pv DBP) involved in the infection

• Genetic relationships between Kedougou vivax strains with strains from other known geographic areas.

• The potential impact of vivax on bouts of malaria and the overall burden of malaria.