Local Volunteers Research Articles

Nehemiah as a Biblical Model of Volunteer Workers for effective Church Administration

Coordination is an essential tool for an organisation's surviving and smooth running. Christian ministry needs proper administrative functions for the effectiveness of church business and human and financial resources. To achieve this noble goal, the chief administrator and a pastor need to acquaint himself or herself with the knowledge of administration. This paper attempts to provide a study of Nehemiah as the biblical model of volunteer workers for effective church administration. The name Nehemiah in the Hebrew language "nechemyah" or "NehemYah" means the comfort of Jehovah or Jehovah's comforts, and the paper argues that Nehemiah’s models and the pattern used by him are an archetype or perfect examples for the volunteer workers to embrace in the realisation of effective church administration. The authorial intention and motive for this study is to affirm the value and contributory efforts of the local Church's volunteer workers and the necessity for effective administration in managing human resources by the church administration. The efficiency of volunteer workers in church administration connotes the proper concept within the Church that volunteer workers and leaders exist and are needed in the Church. It is stated in this paper that in the Church, the word volunteer is considered in the light of Christian stewardship. The required significant parameters for efficient volunteer services as inferred in this study are organisation and management, recruitment, screening, and training and re-training of volunteer workers, which is the church pastor's primary task. To this end, the paper submits that volunteer workers are needed in church business, yet, the functionality of viable volunteer workers hinges on effective church administration; the pastor is supposed to be a coach-player and not the sole player in the field of Christian ministry. The paper recommends that Christian leaders should do their best to avoid distractions and make themselves available for the godly task by incorporating Nehemiah's models of leadership into their system of administration.

Farní střediska charity - co jim pomáhá, co je brzdí? Explorativní kvalitativní studie

A significant proportion of Catholic global charitable activities take place not only in corporate Charity agencies (ChA), but also in local volunteer groups in parishes. The parish environment of Charity underwent a significant decline in Czechoslovakia during the twentieth century, which continued with the unilateral expansion of Charity agencies after 1990. Due to the new ecclesiological emphases, following the encyclical Deus caritas est, there is a renewed sensitivity to the charitable ministry of parishes and ways are being sought to establish it where it has not been before. There is a minimum of knowledge in this area. The aim of this study is to explore the experience of those (N=20) responsible for the establishment of parish social ministry teams (PSMT) in the parishes of the Archdiocese of Olomouc (CZ) and find out what factors helped and hindered. The qualitative research highlighted the following facilitative categories: logistical support of PSMT from ChA; identification of the parish with PSMT, clear communication of the idea of PSMT in the parish, appropriate competencies of the PSMT leader and active strategies for recruiting volunteers.

Building Volunteer Engagement in the Tennessee Extension Master Gardener Program from the Ground Up

This study was designed to assess key volunteer attitudes and perceptions about local and state Extension Master Gardener (EMG) volunteer programs. EMG volunteers in Tennessee completed a total of 759 surveys between January 22 and March 10, 2020. Survey responses showed there was a strong positive perception of local EMG groups and the connection with the University of Tennessee system overall. When respondents were segmented, answers to key questions showed illuminating differences between volunteers with positive and neutral or negative views of the program. The variations in answers show areas of potential emphasis to support healthy local group culture and broader efficacy of the EMG program.

Family-Based Palliative Care Model for Advanced Cancer Patients in Community Settings in the Northeast, Thailand

Background: Advanced cancer patients (ACPs) need complex care and appropriate support from the family to relieve suffering and stress during the life-threatening course of the disease until the end of life. Objective: To examine the current situation of family cancer care and to develop a family-based palliative care model for ACPs in community settings in the Northeast, Thailand. Materials and Methods: The present study was a participatory action research study comprised four phases, situation analysis, model development and planning, model implementation and assessment, and follow-up assessment and model remodification. The participants included 12 dyads of ACPs-family caregivers (FCGs), 44 community network committee members (CNCs), comprising 28 community network volunteers-CNVs such as local leaders, teachers, Buddhist monks, nurses, and village health volunteers (VHVs), 11 health personnel, and five other local leaders. Data collection used interview schedules, in-depth-interview guide, focus group discussion guidelines, and observation checklists. Data analyses used descriptive and analytical statistics for quantitative data, and content analysis for qualitative data. Results: The results showed that the participatory model developed was called “the integrated family-based palliative care for ACPs in community or IFPC-ACPC model”. It was composed of 1) the CNCs for ACPs and families, 2) the roles of the CNC in providing social support to the ACPs and families, 3) the palliative care guidelines for ACPS, FCGs, and CNCs, 4) the three-workshop training on palliative care for ACPs, FCGs, and CNCs, and 5) the home visits and the home environmental modification. This eight-week model was applied to all patient-caregiver dyads after the CNCs agreed upon its potential for implementation at a high level. The satisfaction of the FCGs and CNCs changed, and the ACPs’ symptoms were significantly changed at the end of the implementation at post-test and follow-up. The clinical outcomes revealed that the ACPs had PPS duration of 70 to 90 reflected by multidimensional adverse symptoms of the ACPs. The ESAS were improved significantly at post-test and follow-up (p<0.05). The ACPs’ knowledge, perceptions, palliative care behavior, and social support were improved significantly at post-test and at follow-up (p<0.05). The received symptom management from his/her FCGs were also at a higher level. Conclusion: The developed IFPC-ACPC model can be implemented in semi-urban communities in the Northeast, Thailand with adjustments based on local problems and needs. However, outcome evaluation for the model effectiveness in the long term needs further study. Keywords: Advanced cancer patient; Family-based care; Integrated palliative care model; Family caregiver; Community network

Suspension of social welfare services and mental health outcomes for women during the COVID-19 pandemic in a peripheral neighborhood in São Paulo, Brazil.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Brazilian urban peripheries have been severely affected both by the spread of the virus and by social, political, and economical dynamics, raising concerns about the psychological wellbeing and mental health of the population living in these areas. The pandemic broke out in a context of reduced public spending in social and health policies as well as in a process of erosion of social rights, fostering processes of exclusion and highlighting the association between austerity, the increase in poverty and inequality as well as in health and mental health problems indicators. This article presents the results of a qualitative participatory research that investigated subjective experiences in a peripheral neighborhood of São Paulo, Brazil, aiming to understand how contextual dynamics played a role in shaping mental health experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. A multidisciplinary team of researchers worked closely with local volunteers trained to provide emotional support calls to neighbors of the community who signed up for the project. This article presents three ethnographic cases of women who had their routines strongly affected by the suspension of public and social protection services for the containment of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, leading to psychological suffering due to the increased demand of “domestic circuits of care”. We argue that within a context of austerity, the pandemic was remarkably harsh in urban peripheries and, specifically, for women with caring responsibilities. In addition to highlighting the pervasive “social protection gap”, the cases presented in this paper also reveals the unequal dynamics of the social reproduction work in several layers, which falls mainly on women's shoulders. The “crisis of care”, proposed by gender and feminist scholars, can contribute to understanding the psychological outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic for these women.

From International to Local: Promoting Local Volunteer Tourism to Guarantee the Persistence of Wildlife Conservation Projects in the Post-COVID-19 Era

Volunteer tourists, often foreigners, collect essential data in wildlife conservation projects worldwide. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, international tourism activities reduced drastically, forcing many conservation projects to shut down. Using a nine-year (2013–2021) case study in Indonesia, we examine how local and foreign tourists construct the meaning of their volunteer experiences in the light of COVID-19. We aim to highlight the potential benefits of local volunteer tourism to face the travel limitations posed by COVID-19, and to show an example of how conservation projects can overcome the challenges of the current and potential future pandemics. We recruited 117 volunteers (49 Indonesians, 68 foreign; 73 females, 44 males; mean age: 24.2 ± SD 4.7) that collected 50.8% of the total amount of data collected by the project over the same period. Of the 117 volunteers, 81 of them (38 Indonesians, 43 foreigners) filled in a feedback form at the end of their stay. Via logistic regressions, we found that Indonesian volunteers declared more positive feedback on the logistics at the research station (p = 0.047). Via Bayesian structural equation models, we found that Indonesian volunteers reported significantly more frequently than foreign volunteers that they learned new skills (89% Credible Interval = 0.017–0.351) and that they gained personal wisdom, growth and maturity (89% Credible Interval = 0.891–1.003) from the volunteer experience. The volunteer program evolved from being 100% foreign volunteers in 2013 to 100% Indonesian volunteers by 2020 at the peak of the pandemic, which helped maintain the continuity of the research and conservation activities. We presented the positive implications of shifting towards local volunteer tourists in a long-term conservation project. We suggest that promoting local volunteer tourism through training new generations of nationals in conservation projects is key to guarantee the persistence of such initiatives in the post-COVID-19 Era.

Vulnerable or resilient? The response of informal settlements to COVID-19: The case of urban village communities in Beijing

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought topics of the impact, response and adaptation of cities in emergencies to the forefront. When compared with formal settlements, the problems faced by informal settlements are more prominent. We propose the framework of an actor-network theory, substantiated by an empirical study of three typical informal settlements in Haidian District, Beijing, in which the process, characteristics and internal mechanism of the spatial reconstruction of the informal settlements in response to COVID-19 are closely scrutinised. Human actors such as local governments, community volunteers, landlords, tenants and non-human actors all participated in the response to COVID-19 according to their goal vision and political logic, with the local government as the core driving force, forming an integrated actor network. Rooted in the special locality of informal settlements, the actor network was both hierarchical and flexible, and its inherent dynamism has proven to be efficient during COVID-19, resulting in social adaptation and spatial reconstruction. This study contributes to the cautiously optimistic estimate of similar urban community resilience in terms of global epidemics and enriches the understanding of their interlacing dynamics from the perspective of spatial reconstruction.

Bioacoustics characterization and habitat use of glass frogs in El Salvador

Introduction: Glass frogs occur from Mexico to South America, and, their taxonomy and distribution are currently debated. In El Salvador, the only species is thought to be Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni, but it may instead be Hyalinobatrachium viridissimum. In any case, the species is scarcely recorded and understudied. Objective: To estimate the species distribution in the Río Lempa basin, and to compare its call with available records. Methods: We used local volunteers to sample 53 sites in Cabañas and Morazán, El Salvador, during the rainy season (September to November); these were visited once in 2019 and once in 2020. Volunteers counted individuals along transects from 6 to 8 pm and recorded some calls with cell phones. Results: We counted 361 individuals, added 53 new localities (mainly deciduous broad-leaved forest and agricultural systems). Abundance was more related with elevation and forest cover, than with river characteristics. Our evaluation of 32 calls found differences in the peak frequency between these glass frog populations and those of H. fleischmanni and H. viridissimum comb. nov. Conclusion: Salvadorian glass frogs are more widespread than previously recorded, their distribution is more related with elevation and forest than with rivers types, and their taxonomic status remains unsolved.

S05-2 Tenth anniversary of ‘moment! - motor learning and mental training for people with a beginning dementia'

Currently 1.7 million people in Germany are living with dementia and two out of three such persons are nursed at home. Considering this challenging situation, we started in 2010 the project “moment! - motor learning and mental training for people with an incipient dementia”. Our aim was to develop a special qualification for people who are interested in conducting physical exercise groups for persons suffering from dementia. It has been scientifically proven that physical exercises show a positive impact on people with dementia: Training in groups is motivating and influences the emotional state in a positive way. Furthermore, social contacts are supported and maintained and prevent from social isolation. Therefore, a higher life fulfillment can be increased temporarily, and self-confidence is growing as well. Socio political goals are the integration of affected persons into existing social structures like sports associations, the raise of public awareness for dementia, and to strengthen the possibilities of integrating people suffering from dementia into regular social life. All scientific analysis proves that motion has a positive impact on the process of dementia and is a successful prophylactic and therapeutic support of the common medical treatment.The project includes a qualification for multipliers such as care assistants, trainers in local sport associations, nursing staff and volunteers in care organisations in order to support people suffering from dementia. This training consists of five days (and a total of 40 learning units) and is offered as an attendance seminar. During the course the participants will be trained in basic knowledge and clinical pictures of dementia, above all they receive many ideas for practical motor and mental exercises. Additionally, all participants receive a workbook and a music CD for the rhythm and dance lessons. Within the last 10 years we have qualified about 440 people in 27 trainings. Many “moment!” training-groups have been built - most of them in nursing homes and a few in cooperation with a local sports club.

Urine metabolomics analysis of sleep quality in deep-underground miners: A pilot study.

BackgroundIn previous questionnaire surveys of miners, sleep disorders were found among underground workers. The influence of the special deep-underground environment and its potential mechanism are still unclear. Therefore, this study intends to utilize LC-MS metabolomics to study the potential differences between different environments and different sleep qualities.MethodsTwenty-seven miners working at 645–1,500 m deep wells were investigated in this study, and 12 local ground volunteers were recruited as the control group. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to examine and evaluate the sleep status of the subjects in the past month, and valuable basic information about the participants was collected. PSQI scores were obtained according to specific calculation rules, and the corresponding sleep grouping and subsequent analysis were carried out. Through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) non-targeted metabolomics analysis, differences in metabolism were found by bioinformatics analysis in different environments.ResultsBetween the deep-underground and ground (DUvsG) group, 316 differential metabolites were identified and 125 differential metabolites were identified in the good sleep quality vs. poor sleep quality (GSQvsPSQ) group. The metabolic pathways of Phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis (p = 0.0102) and D-Glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism (p = 0.0241) were significantly enriched in DUvsG. For GSQvsPSQ group, Butanoate metabolism was statistically significant (p = 0.0276). L-Phenylalanine, L-Tyrosine and L-Glutamine were highly expressed in the deep-underground group. Acetoacetic acid was poorly expressed, and 2-hydroxyglutaric acid was highly expressed in good sleep quality.ConclusionsThe influence of the underground environment on the human body is more likely to induce specific amino acid metabolism processes, and regulate the sleep-wake state by promoting the production of excitatory neurotransmitters. The difference in sleep quality may be related to the enhancement of glycolytic metabolism, the increase in excitatory neurotransmitters and the activation of proinflammation. L-phenylalanine, L-tyrosine and L-glutamine, Acetoacetic acid and 2-hydroxyglutaric acid may be potential biomarkers correspondingly.

The Party Replies: Examining Local Party Responsiveness to Prospective Campaign Volunteers

We examine the role that local parties play in responding to and equipping local volunteers to work during campaign seasons. We use a field experiment during the 2020 U.S. general election to investigate whether local parties are more likely to respond to certain types of volunteers and to examine what factors are associated with local parties’ responsiveness. We find that both Democratic and Republican local parties in competitive counties are more likely to respond to volunteers. Moreover, we find that both parties are more likely to respond to white volunteers and Democratic parties are more likely to respond to women. These differential response rates may be contributing to the increased demographic sorting between the parties.

ANALYSIS OF LOCAL AND REMOTE MAPPERS’ OPEN GEOGRAPHIC DATA CONTRIBUTION TO OIL SPILL DISASTER RESPONSE IN NIGER DELTA REGION, NIGERIA

Abstract. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the contributions of Local Volunteer Mappers (LVM, resident in Nigeria) and Remote Volunteer Mappers (RVM, not resident in Nigeria) in an organized crowd-sourced disaster response mapping using OpenStreetMap. The study sampled two Local Government Areas in Ogoni land - a major oil spill disaster vulnerable area of the Niger Delta Region. The study engaged mappers using the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap (HOT) tasking manager for Tai (Project task 6358, with 596 grids –RVM) and Gokana LGA (Project task 6359, with 706 grids –LVM), respectively in a Mapathon battle challenge. The result shows that project task 6358 was completely mapped and validated in six months, while project task 6359 took 28 months. Each of the 56 RVM spent an average of 20.77 minutes/grid, generating a total of 16,416 edits of 13,552 building footprints and 858km of roads. The 173 LVM spent an average of 41.1 minutes/grid to generate 18,367 edits of 14,983 building foot prints and 521km of roads. The study also showed that a total of 103 RVM joined but only 56 completely mapped the task within six months whereas 173 LVM joined and completely mapped the task within 28 months. Demographic characteristics of both categories of mappers showed that 52% of the RVM were advanced mappers whereas 72% of the LVM were beginner mappers on the HOT Tasking Manager. Conclusively, the lacuna or differential response of RVM and LVM requires investigation in terms of geographic context, digital citizenry, economic disposition and demographic characteristics of online volunteer mappers.

The ‘New Humanitarians’: Vernacular aid in Greece

Since 2015, the ’refugee crisis’ in Greece has turned the Eastern Mediterranean migration route into one of the main entry points to Europe. In response, a grassroots solidarity movement has emerged in the Aegean islands that has become instrumental for boat rescue at sea, and for camp service provision. These local and international volunteers, as well as refugees, identify as ‘New Humanitarians’. This paper presents the emic aspects of the ‘New Humanitarians’, and focuses on vernacular actors and how they challenge the humanitarian landscape in Greece by examining their principles, practices, and discourse.
 A key finding is that the ‘New Humanitarian’ principles that they model revisit the existing ones—i.e. solidarity, hospitality, equality, and agency. Other findings show that the ‘New Humanitarians’ are reproducing governing technologies imposed by the government and other agencies. They do so while trying to contest mainstream humanitarianism and pleading for much-needed change in the European border regime and refugee management systems.

The Effect of Air Pollutants on liver Enzymes and Pituitary Gland Hormones of Smokers and non-smokers of Oil Refinery and Gas Station Workers in Basra/Iraq

Air pollutants that originated from oil refineries and gas pump stations can have a negative effect on humanorgans, especially liver and brain. This study focuses on evaluating the pollutants from oil refinery and gasstation on workers’ health by measuring three hepatic enzymes GOT (Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase),GPT (Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase), ALP(Alkaline phosphatase) and three pituitary gland hormones LH(Luteinizing hormone), FSH (Follicle-stimulating hormone), TSH (Thyroid-stimulating hormone). Study groupswere (i) 33 males from Basra oil refinery workers including 16 smoker and 17 non-smoker (ii) 23 male from Gasstation, 11 of them were smoker while the other 12 are non-smoker (iii) 24 male local volunteers from Basra (allhad non-oil related job) as a control group, 12 smoker and 12 non-smokers. All three groups’ subjects had neitherfamily history of raspatory problems nor diabatic. The results indicated a significance decrease in FSH, LH, TSHhormones and GPT, ALP enzymes of oil refinery workers, comparing to the control group. The same trend wasalso observed among gas station workers, suggesting hepatotoxicity and alternation in pituitary hormones.Pollutants that circulating around oil industry sites can negatively impact human body especially for those whowork near these locations.

PHQ-2 Scores in Broward County’s Homeless: Prevalence, Barriers, and Proposed Solutions to Mental Health Disparities

Introduction: Florida ranks 9th in states with highest prevalence of mental illness among homeless individuals. The state also ranks 43rd of 52 states in providing adequate access for mental health concerns in homeless individuals. This study surveyed people experiencing homelessness in Broward County to investigate utilization of healthcare and mental health resources and accessibility of the target population to adequate care.. Aims included a collection of demographics concerning homelessness such as age and gender, prevalence of mental illness, history of substance use and emergency department, and then correlating these with scores from a standardized depression rating scale (PHQ-2). Methods: The Community Based Participatory Research model was employed while working with local volunteer organizations. Participants completed an 18 question survey and PHQ-2 at three feeding sites in Broward County, totaling 136 participants. . Results: 100% of participants surveyed had an income below $12,488, thereby falling in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage gap. 66% stated “none” for insurance, 67% screened positive for depression with the PHQ-2 questionnaire, while 57% acknowledged having mental illness. Only 19% reported using the ER during mental health emergencies but 80% of this population had at least 1 ER visit within the year. Individuals who reported no to the question, “In the past year, was there ever a time when you were prescribed a drug but were unable to get it”, scored 1.23 points lower (95% CI: -0.33,-2.12) on the PHQ-2 than individuals who were able to obtain medications. Individuals who reported history of binge drinking, substance use and thoughts of suicide scored 1.21 points higher (95% CI: -0.14,-2.28) on the PHQ 2 than individuals who responded no. Discussion: Our results suggest a majority of homeless individuals need further assessment concerning depression. Based on the utilization of the ER, healthcare resource awareness is inadequately approached. Programs available are underutilized due to lack of awareness, accessibility and outreach. These findings encourage redistribution of funding and further advocate for resources available to this population.

Welcoming Acts

This article compares local volunteer mobilizations offering welcome to forced migrants in the USA (Oregon) and UK (Yorkshire). We contribute to literature on volunteer-based humanitarianism by attending to the importance of affect and temporality in the politics of welcoming acts, presenting the notion of “affective arcs.” While extant literature argues that volunteers become increasingly contestational, we identify a countertendency as volunteers move from outrage toward pragmatism. Through long-term ethnographic engagement, we argue that affective arcs reveal a particular understanding of “the political” and an underlying belief in a fair nation state that has not reckoned with colonial legacies in migration governance. By carefully tracing affective arcs of volunteer humanitarian acts, this article offers original insights into the constrained political possibilities of these local forms of welcome.

Localised learning: mobilising belonging among mature-aged students in low socio-economic status regional and remote areas

The higher education participation and success rates of students in low socio-economic status (SES), regional, rural, remote, and isolated areas – who often attend university later in life – is a persistent concern in Australia and beyond. This article focuses on mature-aged students in low SES, regional and remote areas in Tasmania, Australia, proposing that universities harness local belonging when providing learning opportunities. It draws on a thematic analysis of 19 semi-structured interviews with current and prospective university students, and community stakeholders. The study identifies time and place-based barriers to studying on campus: students’ commitments outside of university; and geographical, cultural, and financial challenges. However, existing local infrastructure, such as libraries, create opportunities for face-to-face interactions and learning support for students who study online in their regional or remote communities, provided by staff and local volunteers. These barriers and solutions are discussed using the concept of ‘belonging’, framed spatially and culturally. Current literature on regional and remote higher education students tends to emphasise ‘not belonging’ in relation to distant urban or metropolitan spaces. We argue that ‘belonging’ can be fostered in local spaces with local people. Utilising ‘untapped’ local learning support and existing physical spaces mitigates geographical, cultural, and financial challenges, and provides academic and emotional support. We propose a coordinated network of physical study places and local people, including: regional ‘satellite’ campuses; regional study hubs; local public libraries; and schools, where online students can be supported, connected, and engaged in their studies whilst located in regional and remote communities.

Examining the powers decentralized to community resource management areas in Ghana

Decentralizing forest control to community-based groups is a widely promoted form of governance around the world. Community Resource Management Areas (CREMAs) in Ghana, a form of forest decentralization, is a relatively recent government strategy to reduce forest loss, promote restoration, and improve local control and participation in resource management. This paper examines the powers devolved to CREMAs in Ghana, using a political ecology lens. Using a variety of qualitative research methods, the paper found that CREMAs receive limited powers from the State and these powers mainly restrict local access to resources, an action the State has often failed at. The results also suggest that CREMAs impose responsibility on local people without accompanying resources and often at the expense of security and safety of local volunteer enforcers. The findings also highlight the lack of coherence between forest decentralization and exiting political decentralization processes; the incoherence between the different institutional regulations for CREMAs; and tensions between new and traditional forms of local resource governance. The study suggests that critical approaches to evaluating the performance of decentralized regimes could be a useful approach to understanding the drivers of vulnerability among local resource users, dependents, and their institutions.

Volunteers' Embodied Experiences at a Sport Festival

In this article we argue that extant research in event studies on volunteering has predominantly been conducted through disembodied managerial lenses using formulaic conceptual frames. This has resulted in the neglect of more phenomenological approaches that explore volunteers' lived experiences. Using the example of the 2018 Tall Ships festival in the provincial North East English city of Sunderland, we draw on embodiment theory to fill this gap in event management research. Utilizing in-depth, semistructured interviews with 31 local volunteers, our main findings are twofold. First, they highlight the complexities and fluidity of local volunteers' lived experiences of the festival that reflect a multitude of interrelated elements that are corporeal, emotional, and multisensory. Second, these embodied experiences, combined with knowledge of self and place, create fresh, vivid, and subjective meanings that collapse the past, present, and future of postindustrial places riddled by economic decline. Our focus on the volunteer experience in the medium term after the event has occurred represents a distinctive timeline as it provides insights into how volunteers interpret, remember, and reconfigure their experience beyond initial euphoria and before long-term nostalgia.

Comparison of PvLAP5 and Pvs25 qRT-PCR assays for the detection of Plasmodium vivax gametocytes in field samples preserved at ambient temperature from remote malaria endemic regions of Panama.

BackgroundAs the elimination of malaria in Mesoamerica progresses, detection of Plasmodium vivax using light microscopy (LM) becomes more difficult. Highly sensitive molecular tools have been developed to help determine the hidden reservoir of malaria transmission in low transmission settings. In this study we compare the performance of PvLAP5 and Pvs25 qRT-PCR assays to LM for the detection of Plasmodium vivax gametocytes in field samples preserved at ambient temperature from malaria endemic regions of Panama.MethodsFor this purpose, we collected a total of 83 malaria field samples during 2017-2020 preserved in RNAprotect (RNAp) of which 63 (76%) were confirmed P. vivax by LM and selected for further analysis. Additionally, 16 blood samples from local healthy malaria smear negative volunteers, as well as, from 15 malaria naïve lab-bred Aotus monkeys were used as controls. To optimize the assays, we first determined the minimum blood volume sufficient for detection of PvLAP5 and Pv18SrRNA using P. vivax infected Aotus blood that was preserved in RNAp and kept either at ambient temperature for up to 8 days before freezing or was snap-frozen at -80° Celsius at the time of bleeding. We then compared the mean differences in gametocyte detection rates of both qRT-PCR assays to LM and performed a multivariate correlation analysis of study variables. Finally, we determined the sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of the assays at detecting gametocytes compared to LM.ResultsBlood volume optimization indicated that a blood volume of at least 60 μL was sufficient for detection of PvLAP5 and Pv18SrRNA and no significant differences were found between RNA storage conditions. Both PvLAP5 and Pvs25 qRT-PCR assays showed a 37-39% increase in gametocyte detection rate compared to LM respectively. Strong positive correlations were found between gametocytemia and parasitemia and both PvLAP5 and Pvs25 gametocyte markers. However, no significant differences were detected in the Se and Sp of the Pvs25 and PvLAP5 qRT-PCR assays, even though data from control samples suggested Pvs25 to be more abundant than PvLAP5.ConclusionsThis study shows that the PvLAP5 qRT-PCR assay is as Se and Sp as the gold standard Pvs25 assay and is at least 37% more sensitive than LM at detecting P. vivax gametocytes in field samples preserved in RNAp at ambient temperature from malaria endemic regions of Panama.Author summaryPlasmodium vivax is one of the five species of malaria (P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. ovale and P. knowlesi) that are transmitted to man by the bite of female anopheles mosquitoes. It causes ~14.3 million cases mainly in Southeast Asia, India, the Western Pacific and the Americas annually. In the Americas, malaria remains a major problem in underdeveloped areas and indigenous communities in the Amazon region and eastern Panama, where it is endemic and difficult to eliminate. As malaria elimination progresses, detection of P. vivax by light microscopy (LM) becomes more difficult. Therefore, highly sensitive molecular tools have been developed that use genetic markers for the parasite to help determine the hidden reservoir of malaria transmission. This study compares the performance of two molecular assays based on the genetic markers of mature gametocytes PvLAP5 and Pvs25 with LM. The study shows that the PvLAP5 qRT-PCR assay is as sensitive and specific as the gold standard Pvs25 assay and is at least 37% more sensitive than LM at detecting P. vivax gametocytes. These data suggest that the PvLAP5 qRT-PCR assay can be a useful tool to help determine the hidden reservoir of transmission in endemic foci approaching elimination.