Review
The complexities of malaria disease manifestations with a focus on asymptomatic malaria
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* Corresponding author: Jane M Carlton jane.carlton@nyu.edu
1 National Institute of Malaria Research, Indian Council of Medical Research, Sector 8, Dwarka, New Delhi 110 077, India
2 Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York University, 12 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10003, USA
3 Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India
4 Department of Biotechnology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India
Malaria Journal 2012, 11:29 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-11-29
Published: 31 January 2012Abstract
Malaria is a serious parasitic disease in the developing world, causing high morbidity and mortality. The pathogenesis of malaria is complex, and the clinical presentation of disease ranges from severe and complicated, to mild and uncomplicated, to asymptomatic malaria. Despite a wealth of studies on the clinical severity of disease, asymptomatic malaria infections are still poorly understood. Asymptomatic malaria remains a challenge for malaria control programs as it significantly influences transmission dynamics. A thorough understanding of the interaction between hosts and parasites in the development of different clinical outcomes is required. In this review, the problems and obstacles to the study and control of asymptomatic malaria are discussed. The human and parasite factors associated with differential clinical outcomes are described and the management and treatment strategies for the control of the disease are outlined. Further, the crucial gaps in the knowledge of asymptomatic malaria that should be the focus of future research towards development of more effective malaria control strategies are highlighted.