H. Baird Jk",purnomo,"basri et al., AGE-SPECIFIC PREVALENCE OF PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM AMONG 6 POPULATIONS WITH LIMITED HISTORIES OF EXPOSURE TO ENDEMIC MALARIA, The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 49(6), 1993, pp. 707-719
Citations number
60
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Tropical Medicine
The age-specific prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia among
residents of six villages in northeastern Irian Jaya, Indonesia, has
been measured for a period of five years. All study subjects were tran
smigrants from Java living in Irian Jaya for three weeks to 72 months,
depending upon the village and point of measurement. Fifteen separate
estimates of prevalence were obtained from 4,554 Giemsa-stained thick
blood films from 91 to 701 people (mean sample size = 304) among the
six villages. The prevalence of parasitemia among people who had lived
in Irian Jaya for less than one year did not decrease as a function o
f age, except in one village at eight months. In contrast, after 16 mo
nths to two years or more of residence, the prevalence of parasitemia
decreased markedly with increasing age beyond 6-10 or 11-15 years. Soc
ial, behavioral, or entomologic characteristics of these populations d
id not explain the decreasing prevalence of parasitemia with age. An a
ge-dependent naturally acquired protective immunity appeared to develo
p in all of these villages after 1-2 years of exposure to hyperendemic
malaria.