Human Parasitic Diseases

Background: This study aimed at determining the prevalence of asymptomatic cases of malaria in Puerto Lempira, the municipality with the highest morbidity in Honduras.

Methods and findings: Capillary blood was collected from 1,899 participants. All samples were analyzed through microscopy and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique based on the amplification of species-specific repetitive sequences. The molecular approach was more sensitive than microscopy to detect asymptomatic infections (1.1% vs. 0.16%).

Conclusions: Although the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria was low in this population, new strategies such as active case detection and PCR-based surveys could become useful tools for countries aspiring to initiate the pre-elimination phase of malaria in the Americas.