Full title: Developing sero-diagnostic tests to facilitate Plasmodium vivax Serological Test-and-Treat approaches: balancing public health impact and overtreatment
BMC Medicine
Obadia T, Nekkab N, Robinson LJ, Drakeley C, Mueller I, White MT
Eliminating Plasmodium vivax will require targeting the hidden liver-stage reservoir of hypnozoites. This necessitates new interventions balancing the benefit of reducing vivax transmission against the risk of over-treating some individuals with drugs which may induce haemolysis. By measuring antibodies to a panel of vivax antigens, a strategy of serological-testing-and-treatment (PvSeroTAT) can identify individuals with recent blood-stage infections who are likely to carry hypnozoites and target them for radical cure. This provides a potential solution to selectively treat the vivax reservoir with 8-aminoquinolines.