Gametocytes are sexual forms of the parasite that are transmitted from the human host to mosquito vectors and thus perpetuate the transmission of malaria. In Senegal, progress in the fight against malaria led the programme to become part of the regional elimination of malaria by introducing primaquine in the management of the disease in the north of the country in order to reduce malaria gametocyte carriage in the population and block the transmission of the disease. The presence of mature gametocytes (stage V) in the human peripheral blood is the determining factor in the maintenance and increase of malaria transmission.
This method is a simple and effective tool to better understand the level of malaria transmission with a view to elimination. RDTs are a good source of DNA for molecular monitoring of gametocyte carriage. In 2018, the prevalence of gametocytes was higher in the Ranérou district (76.24%) than in the Saint-Louis district (67.33%) where an increase in the number of gametocyte carriers in 2018 was noted, in comparison with 2017. The study found an overall prevalence of 53.47% with an average Ct of 32.12 ± 4.28 cycles. The cycle threshold (Ct) was determined by the emission fluorescence corresponding to the initial amount of amplified DNA. qPCR was performed in a 20 μL reaction to detect and quantify transcripts of the pfs25 gene. MethodsĭNA was extracted from 303 RDT devices (SD Bioline Malaria Pf) using the Chelex-100 protocol. falciparum gametocytes from used RDTs by quantitative PCR for molecular monitoring of malaria transmission. The knowledge of gametocyte carriage in the population is important to better assess the level of parasite transmission in elimination settings. Several studies have made it possible to extract the DNA of Plasmodium falciparum from RDTs. The application of sensitive molecular techniques to these RDTs is a modern tool for improving malaria case detection and drug resistance surveillance. Rapid diagnostic tests for malaria (RDTs) are easily deployed on a large scale and are helpful sources of parasite DNA. Malaria surveillance requires powerful tools and strategies to achieve malaria elimination.