Multiplicity of Plasmodium falciparum infection in asymptomatic children in Senegal: relation to transmission, age and erythrocyte variants

Table 1 Parasitological indexes before and after transmission season

	June 2002	January 2003	P value
Age-range (years)	2–10	2–10
Mean age ± SD	5.0 ± 1.6	5.6 ± 1.6
Sex ratio (M/F)	1.1 (195/177)	1.1 (195/177)
Parasite prevalence^a (%)
Microscopy	35	35
PCR	44	51	NS
Parasite density^b	2.9	7.6	0.01
Parasite density 25th–75th percentiles	0.8–11.2	1.3–33.1
MOI^c (mean)	2.5	4.1	0.0001
MOI (range)	1–7	1–10
Number of subjects	372	372

^a Proportion of infected individuals.
^b P. falciparum density (parasites/100 leukocytes)-median, zero values excluded.
^c Number of clones identified as msp2 alleles, excluding PCR negatives.

ISSN: 1475-2875