| public-health epidemiology in vanuatu. | vanuatu, which formerly was known as the new hebrides, is an archipelago in the southwest pacific ocean with a tropical humid climate. the national health system and the state of health of the population generally are satisfactory. the main diseases of public-health importance are malaria and tuberculosis. their epidemiology and control are discussed. an epidemic of plasmodium falciparum malaria, which commenced in 1980, is described; this possibly can be explained by an increase in chloroquine- ... | 1990 | 2403624 |
| sensitivity to mefloquine in vitro of chloroquine-resistant plasmodium falciparum from vanuatu. | | 1989 | 2694510 |
| [the chloroquine resistance of plasmodium falciparum in vanuatu (1980-1984): appearance, evolution, distribution]. | chloroquine resistance of p. falciparum was studied in vanuatu from march 1981 to july 1984, with limited means, and a non-systematic procedure; it was first evidenced in 1980. in vivo chloroquine resistance criteria were those established by w. h. o. in vitro testing methods were the standard w. h. o. macro-test and micro-test. 124 in vivo chloroquine resistant cases were seen: 111 cases in hospital (63 r iii, 28 r ii and 20 r i) and 13 cases in field studies (1 r iii, 4 r ii and 8 r i). 87 in ... | 1988 | 3046769 |
| [epidemiological peculiarities of pernicious attacks by plasmodium falciparum in the context of a malaria epidemic. vanuatu, 1975-1985]. | a retrospective study of the cerebral malaria cases occurred in five hospitals from 1975 to 1985 was conducted in the republic of vanuatu (ex-new hébrides). the situation in this archipelago since 1980 of the epidemic type, with a dramatic increase in plasmodium falciparum incidence and prevalence. a considerable increase of the incidence of cerebral malaria has been evidenced in the whole group, in parallel with that of the p. falciparum incidence. moreover, an unusual age distribution has been ... | 1987 | 3306247 |
| the spectrum of renal histopathology in patients with significant proteinuria in vanuatu. | renal biopsies were performed on 21 of 27 melanesian patients presenting with significant proteinuria in vanuatu from 1983 to 1985. all patients had more than 2 g of proteinuria per 24 hours or clinical evidence of the nephrotic syndrome. the average age of the patients who were biopsied was 31 years. three of the 21 patients had evidence of active malaria at the time of presentation, and all of these patients had plasmodium falciparum. renal histopathology revealed that six patients (29%) had a ... | 1987 | 3496788 |
| [malaria in vanuatu. recent epidemiological data]. | the republic of vanuatu, ex-condominium of new-hebrides, is an archipelago in the south pacific, between solomon islands and new-caledonia. although the health system is quite satisfactory, malaria has become the major health problem in the whole country. its epidemiological characteristics are reviewed, and particularly the biology of the only known vector, the anopheles farauti complex. a sudden and severe aggravation of the malaria morbidity since 1980 is then evidenced. this increase of the ... | 1986 | 3542257 |
| chloroquine-resistant plasmodium falciparum malaria in vanuatu. | cases of malaria caused by plasmodium falciparum resistant to chloroquine treatment have been probably occurring in vanuatu for many years. in this survey, seven patients with p. falciparum malaria were investigated for evidence of resistance to chloroquine. in-vitro resistance to chloroquine was demonstrated in four. two further patients who had clinical resistance to chloroquine treatment developed cerebral malaria. it is of interest that one of these patients was subsequently successfully tre ... | 1982 | 6761561 |
| the interaction between plasmodium falciparum and p. vivax in children on espiritu santo island, vanuatu. | studies of the prevalence and incidence of malaria were conducted in children < 10 years old living in 10 rural villages on the island of espiritu santo, vanuatu, south-west pacific. malaria prevalence remained stable at 30% throughout the year but the relative contributions of the 2 major species were highly dependent on season. plasmodium falciparum predominated in the long wet season (november-may) and p. vivax in the dry season (june-october). case definitions for malaria, derived using a mu ... | 1996 | 9015495 |
| absence of malaria-specific mortality in children in an area of hyperendemic malaria. | we conducted a prospective community-based malaria surveillance study on a cohort of children < 10 years old living in an area of hyperendemic malaria (spleen rates > 50% in children aged 2-9 years) in vanuatu, melanesia, supported by a concurrent prospective descriptive study of malaria admissions to the local hospital. the incidence of clinical malaria in children < 10 years old was 1.9 episodes/year. the annual incidence of severe malaria (severe malarial anaemia and cerebral malaria) was onl ... | 1997 | 9463668 |
| brief communication: resistance to falciparum malaria in alpha-thalassemia, oxidative stress, and hemoglobin oxidation. | a recent survey conducted on vanuatu island suggests that resistance to plasmodium falciparum in alpha-thalassemic individuals may have an immunological basis. this study is important since it seems to undermine the current idea that red-cell genetic defects give protection against falciparum malaria by reducing intraerythrocytic growth and development of the parasite. however, the mechanisms underlying these clinical and genetic observations are not yet fully understood. based on a review of th ... | 1999 | 10378464 |
| genetic restriction of plasmodium falciparum in an area of stable transmission: an example of island evolution? | to date, a high degree of polymorphism has been demonstrated at both the msp1 and msp2 loci in parasites from areas of stable malaria transmission. as a consequence, in such areas it is rare to find parasites of the same 2-locus genotype in more than 1 subject. we have studied msp1 and msp2 diversity in parasites collected from subjects with both symptomatic (n = 86) and asymptomatic (34) malaria living on the island of santo, vanuatu, an area of stable malaria transmission. polymorphism at the ... | 2000 | 10811274 |
| limited recombination events in merozoite surface protein-1 alleles of plasmodium falciparum on islands. | intragenic recombination is a principal mechanism for the generation of allelic variation in the merozoite surface protein-1 gene (msp-1) of the human malaria parasite plasmodium falciparum. in the present study, linkage disequilibrium between the 5'- and 3'-polymorphic sites was analyzed to determine the frequency of recombination events in msp-1 in parasite populations on four islands in vanuatu, the southwestern pacific, where malaria transmission is moderate and comparable to other mesoendem ... | 2001 | 11722844 |
| genetic diversity and gene flow of humans, plasmodium falciparum, and anopheles farauti s.s. of vanuatu: inferred malaria dispersal and implications for malaria control. | a comparison of the patterns of gene flow within and between islands and the genetic diversities of the three species required for malaria transmission (humans, plasmodium falciparum, and anopheles farauti s.s.) within the model island system of vanuatu, shows that the active dispersal of an. farauti s.s. is responsible for within island movement of parasites. in contrast, since both p. falciparum and an. farauti s.s. populations are largely restricted to islands, movement of parasites between i ... | 2007 | 17662681 |
| malaria transmission pattern resilience to climatic variability is mediated by insecticide-treated nets. | malaria is an important public-health problem in the archipelago of vanuatu and climate has been hypothesized as important influence on transmission risk. beginning in 1988, a major intervention using insecticide-treated bed nets (itns) was implemented in the country in an attempt to reduce plasmodium transmission. to date, no study has addressed the impact of itn intervention in vanuatu, how it may have modified the burden of disease, and whether there were any changes in malaria incidence that ... | 2008 | 18518983 |
| el niño and variations in the prevalence of plasmodium vivax and p. falciparum in vanuatu. | malaria, both plasmodium falciparum and p. vivax, is a major cause of morbidity in vanuatu. as p. vivax is more prevalent in seasonal climates and p. falciparum in areas of more consistent rainfall, it is postulated that there will be a correlation between the ratio of vivax:falciparum and the el niño southern oscillation (enso), which affects sea surface temperatures and rainfall. with changes in global climate, the frequency, duration and strength of the enso are expected to alter, influencing ... | 2009 | 19070877 |
| in vitro cytotoxic, antiprotozoal and antimicrobial activities of medicinal plants from vanuatu. | sixty-three extracts obtained from 18 plants traditionally used in the south pacific archipelago vanuatu for the treatment of infectious diseases were screened for antimicrobial and antiprotozoal activities. in addition, the extracts were subjected to a detailed analysis on cytotoxic effects toward a panel of human cancer cell lines, designed as a smaller version of the nci60 screen. intriguingly, 15 plant extracts exhibited strong cytotoxic effects specific for only one cancer cell line. extrac ... | 2010 | 20014163 |
| antiplasmodial activities of homogentisic acid derivative protein kinase inhibitors isolated from a vanuatu marine sponge pseudoceratina sp. | as part of our search for new antimalarial drugs in south pacific marine sponges, we have looked for inhibitors of pfnek-1, a specific protein kinase of plasmodium falciparum. on the basis of promising activity in a preliminary screening, the ethanolic crude extract of a new species of pseudoceratina collected in vanuatu was selected for further investigation. a bioassay-guided fractionation led to the isolation of a derivative of homogentisic acid [methyl (2,4-dibromo-3,6-dihydroxyphenyl)acetat ... | 2009 | 20098604 |
| a community-directed strategy for sustainable malaria elimination on islands: short-term mda integrated with itns and robust surveillance. | in the asia pacific sites with low and unstable transmission, elimination should be feasible with existing tools. on aneityum island, vanuatu, both plasmodium falciparum and plasmodium vivax malaria were eliminated in 1991 after implementation of a combined intervention package, including mass drug administration (mda) and insecticide-treated bed nets (itns), with high degree of community involvement. subsequently, community-based surveillance and vector control measures have kept. by reviewing ... | 2010 | 20132788 |
| active case detection, treatment of falciparum malaria with combined chloroquine and sulphadoxine/pyrimethamine and vivax malaria with chloroquine and molecular markers of anti-malarial resistance in the republic of vanuatu. | chloroquine-resistant plasmodium falciparum was first described in the republic of vanuatu in the early 1980s. in 1991, the vanuatu ministry of health instituted new treatment guidelines for uncomplicated p. falciparum infection consisting of chloroquine/sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine combination therapy. chloroquine remains the recommended treatment for plasmodium vivax. | 2010 | 20370920 |
| baseline spatial distribution of malaria prior to an elimination programme in vanuatu. | the ministry of health in the republic of vanuatu has implemented a malaria elimination programme in tafea province, the most southern and eastern limit of malaria transmission in the south west pacific. tafea province is comprised of five islands with malaria elimination achieved on one of these islands (aneityum) in 1998. the current study aimed to establish the baseline distribution of malaria on the most malarious of the province's islands, tanna island, to guide the implementation of elimin ... | 2010 | 20525209 |
| using serological measures to monitor changes in malaria transmission in vanuatu. | with renewed interest in malaria elimination, island environments present unique opportunities to achieve this goal. however, as transmission decreases, monitoring and evaluation programmes need increasingly sensitive tools to assess plasmodium falciparum and plasmodium vivax exposure. in 2009, to assess the role of serological markers in evaluating malaria transmission, a cross-sectional seroprevalence study was carried out in tanna and aneityum, two of the southernmost islands of the vanuatu a ... | 2010 | 20553604 |
| antiplasmodial activity of new caledonia and vanuatu traditional medicines. | with the emergence of strains multiresistant to antimalarial drugs, the search for new active molecules remains a priority. ethnopharmacology appears to be a good method of selection in such investigations. | 2011 | 21284535 |
| plasmodium vivax and plasmodium falciparum at the crossroads of exchange among islands in vanuatu: implications for malaria elimination strategies. | understanding the transmission and movement of plasmodium parasites is crucial for malaria elimination and prevention of resurgence. located at the limit of malaria transmission in the pacific, vanuatu is an ideal candidate for elimination programs due to low endemicity and the isolated nature of its island setting. we analyzed the variation in the merozoite surface protein 1 (msp1) and the circumsporozoite protein (csp) of p. falciparum and p. vivax populations to examine the patterns of gene f ... | 2015 | 25793260 |
| characteristic age distribution of plasmodium vivax infections after malaria elimination on aneityum island, vanuatu. | resurgence is a major concern after malaria elimination. after the initiation of the elimination program on aneityum island in 1991, microscopy showed that plasmodium falciparum disappeared immediately, whereas p. vivax disappeared from 1996 onward, until p. vivax cases were reported in january 2002. by conducting malariometric surveys of the entire population of aneityum, we investigated the age distribution of individuals with parasites during this epidemic in the context of antimalarial antib ... | 2013 | 24166950 |
| health systems readiness and management of febrile outpatients under low malaria transmission in vanuatu. | vanuatu, an archipelago country in western pacific harbouring low plasmodium falciparum and plasmodium vivax malaria transmission, has been implementing a malaria case management policy, recommending parasitological testing of patients with fever and anti-malarial treatment for test-positive only patients. a health facility survey to evaluate the health systems readiness to implement the policy and the quality of outpatient management for patients with fever was undertaken. | 2015 | 26630927 |
| genetic mutations in pfcrt and pfmdr1 at the time of artemisinin combination therapy introduction in south pacific islands of vanuatu and solomon islands. | chloroquine (cq), alone or in combination with sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine, was widely used for the treatment of plasmodium falciparum and plasmodium vivax for several decades in both vanuatu and solomon islands prior to the introduction of artemether-lumefantrine (al) in 2008. however, the effect of chloroquine selection on parasite population, which may affect the efficacy of lumefantrine or other partner drugs of artemisinin, has not been well assessed. this study aims to provide baseline data ... | 2014 | 25318907 |
| genetic mutations in plasmodium falciparum and plasmodium vivax dihydrofolate reductase (dhfr) and dihydropteroate synthase (dhps) in vanuatu and solomon islands prior to the introduction of artemisinin combination therapy. | plasmodium falciparum and plasmodium vivax are endemic in vanuatu and the solomon islands. while both countries have introduced artemether-lumefantrine (al) as first-line therapy for both p. falciparum and p. vivax since 2008, chloroquine and sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine (sp) were used as first-line therapy for many years prior to the introduction of al. limited data are available on the extent of sp resistance at the time of policy change. | 2014 | 25311473 |
| serological measures to assess the efficacy of malaria control programme on ambae island, vanuatu. | seroepidemiology can provide evidence for temporal changes in malaria transmission and is an important tool to evaluate the effectiveness of control interventions. during the early 2000s, vanuatu experienced an acute increase in malaria incidence due to a lapse in funding for vector control. after the distribution of subsidised insecticide-treated nets (itns) resumed in 2003, malaria incidence decreased in the subsequent years. this study was conducted to find the serological evidence supporting ... | 2017 | 28441959 |