Studies on malaria in Kordofan : Prevalence and molecular differentiation of the vector and parasite

The scope of this study is to identify the malaria vector in three towns in the region of Kordofan, namely Elobeid, Alfula and Kadugli, to measure the level of parasite density, to detect if there is anti-sulphadoxine resistance gene activities in the parasite and to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices towards transmission, treatment and prevention of malaria among the population. A parasitological survey was carried out in Elobeid town by using thick and thin blood smears from 100 patients to detect the parasite microscopically and the Parasitemia level was calculated. Blood samples from 200 patients were collected on filter paper and Plasmodium species was determined by nested PCR amplification of small sub-unit ribosomal RNA gene (ssrRNA) using the primers. PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) were performed to detect the drug resistance of Plasmodium falciparum to Sulphadoxine pyrimethamine associated point mutations on pfdhfr and pfdhps genes.