Parasites, Hosts and Diseases

The Korea Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (대한기생충학·열대의학회)
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Seroprevalence of Plasmodium vivax Circumsporozoite Protein Antibody in High-Risk Malaria Areas in Korea

  • Lee, Jinyoung (Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine & Global Resource Bank of Parasitic Protozoa Pathogens, Inha University School of Medicine) ;
  • Jin, Kyoung (Korea Health Evaluation Institute, Sahmyook University) ;
  • Ahn, Seong Kyu (Infectious Diseases Investigation Division, Jeonnam Institute of Public Health and Environment) ;
  • Lee, Sung-Keun (Department of Pharmacology, Inha University School of Medicine) ;
  • Kwon, Hyung Wook (Department of Life Sciences, Incheon National University) ;
  • Na, Byoung-Kuk (Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Department of Convergence Medical Science, and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine) ;
  • Kim, Tong-Soo (Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine & Global Resource Bank of Parasitic Protozoa Pathogens, Inha University School of Medicine)
  • Received : 2021.05.03
  • Accepted : 2021.07.19
  • Published : 2021.08.31
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Abstract

The circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of Plasmodium spp. is a diagnostic antigen and useful biomarker for monitoring short-term/seasonal changes to malaria transmission. Using P. vivax CSP antibody ELISA, epidemiological characteristics were analyzed in the residents of Ganghwa, Cheorwon, Paju, and Goseong from 2017 to 2018. In Ganghwa and Cheorwon, 1.6% and 1.2% of residents, respectively, were PvCSP-antibody-positive in 2018, which indicates a decrease of 0.4% in the positive rate compared to 2017. The annual parasite incidence (API) in Ganghwa and Cheorwon was 24.9 and 10.5 in 2017 and 20.3 and 10.7 in 2018, respectively. Although the changes were not significant, the API in Ganghwa decreased slightly by 4.5 in 2018 compared to the previous year. In Paju and Goseong, 3.9% and 2.0% of residents were positive for the PvCSP antibody. The API in Paju was 13.1 in 2017 and 16.0 in 2018, although no malaria patients were reported for the 2 years. Therefore, the results suggest that PvCSP is a useful antigen for confirming initial malaria infection. Additionally, considering that the antibody is relatively transient, it can be employed for sero-epidemiological studies to determine the extent of malaria transmission in the current year.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank the staffs at the Public Health Centers of Ganghwa, Cheorwon, and Goseong for their contributions and technical supports in blood collection. This research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants funded by the Korean Government (NRF 2019K1A3A9A01000005 and NRF 2017M3A9B8096530) and the Inha University Research Fund (65321-1).

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