1241 Viability and pathogenicity of Plasmodium spp in infected blood donor units and immunological and genetic markers associated with malaria infections

Projects:

Locations: Ghana (GH)

The main aim of the study shall be to determine the viability and the pathogenicity of Plasmodium falciparum in donor blood units during storage under standard conditions (2-8ᵒC). Specifically, the study has been designed to achieve these objectives; (1) To determine the microscopic, serological and genomic prevalence of asymptomatic Plasmodium spp and their associated predictive risk factors among voluntary blood donors. (2) To determine the viability, pathogenicity and the transmission potential of Plasmodium falciparum in donor blood units during the entire period storage under standard conditions. (3) To determine the synonymous and non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphisms in the parasite genomes and their association with symptomatic and asymptomatic infections. (4) To assess the magnitude of various drug resistance malaria parasites in Ghana. (5) To assess the efficacy of available anti-malaria drugs on various falciparum variants in Ghana

Key People

Enoch Aninagyei
Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Basic and Biomedical Sciences, University of Health & Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana
Desmond Omane Acheampong
Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Allied Health Sciences, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana