We need to talk more about transfusion-transmitted malaria in Plasmodium vivax endemic areas.

Abstract

alaria is the most widespread and relevant parasitic disease orldwide; it is primarily transmitted by bites of Anopheles sp., ut can also be transmitted congenitally or through infected lood transfusions. The major species infecting humans are lasmodium falciparum and P. vivax. Even considering that oth species lead to severe disease, the first has been traitionally associated to more deaths, mostly in the African ontinent. No vaccine is available so far and the major control ools are based on early diagnosis and treatment, and vector ontrol. In Brazil, after the eradication campaign started in the 950s, malaria became restricted to the Amazon Region, which espite representing 50% of the national territory holds no ore than 10% of the population. After the 1990s, due to better ontrol of P. falciparum, P. vivax became the main species, and is esponsible for almost 85% of the reported cases, paralleling he decrease in the overall fatality rate, the most successful oal of the Brazilian Malaria Control Program.1 However, this arasite is able to develop dormant stages (hypnozoites) in he liver leading to frequent relapses, thereby confounding fficially reported data, since it is not possible to distinguish ew infections from relapse. With renewed interest in malaria