Asymptomatic malaria ‘super-spreaders’ regularly infect mosquitoes
Researchers found that a small number of infected, asymptomatic school-aged children in an area of eastern Ugandan are responsible for the majority of remaining malaria circulating in local mosquitoes.
The so-called “super spreaders” complicate long-term efforts to eliminate malaria, according to a press release about the findings.
“The existence of asymptomatic malaria infections is well known, but it was surprising to see just how much they can contribute to infecting mosquitoes”.
School-aged children are an “accessible reservoir” of infection because most of them are in school, meaning they can be more easily targeted for interventions, like malaria prophylactic medicine.
