英国牛津大学Robert S. Paton和肯尼亚医学研究所Alice Kamau小组合作揭示了非洲疟疾感染与严重疟疾发生之间的关系。2021年8月20日出版的《科学》杂志发表了这项成果。

为了揭示东非地区人口中最常见三种严重疟疾的表型，研究人员对2006年至2020年因疟疾感染住院的年龄在3个月到9岁共包含6506名儿童的数据集进行了分析。采用贝叶斯公式对不确定性感染（寄生虫患病率）和结果（重症疟疾表型）进行校正。患病率每增加25％会导致重症疟疾发生率增加了一倍。

重症疟疾仍然是东非地区幼儿（3至59个月）中存在的主要流行性疾病。这项研究提供了儿童疟疾寄生虫发病率与严重疟疾发生的定量关系。

研究人员表示，地区流行性恶性疟原虫与危及生命严重性疾病发病之间的关系仍然不明确。

附：英文原文

Title: Malaria infection and severe disease risks in Africa

Author: Robert S. Paton, Alice Kamau, Samuel Akech, Ambrose Agweyu, Morris Ogero, Charles Mwandawiro, Neema Mturi, Shebe Mohammed, Arthur Mpimbaza, Simon Kariuki, Nancy A. Otieno, Bryan O. Nyawanda, Amina F. Mohamed, George Mtove, Hugh Reyburn, Sunetra Gupta, Philip Bejon, José Loureno, Robert W. Snow

Issue&Volume: 2021/08/20

Abstract: The relationship between community prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum and the burden of severe, life-threatening disease remains poorly defined. To examine the three most common severe malaria phenotypes from catchment populations across East Africa, we assembled a dataset of 6506 hospital admissions for malaria in children aged 3 months to 9 years from 2006 to 2020. Admissions were paired with data from community parasite infection surveys. A Bayesian procedure was used to calibrate uncertainties in exposure (parasite prevalence) and outcomes (severe malaria phenotypes). Each 25% increase in prevalence conferred a doubling of severe malaria admission rates. Severe malaria remains a burden predominantly among young children (3 to 59 months) across a wide range of community prevalence typical of East Africa. This study offers a quantitative framework for linking malaria parasite prevalence and severe disease outcomes in children.

DOI: 10.1126/science.abj0089

Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/373/6557/926