Background: Five species of Plasmodium known to cause human malaria are P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae and P. knowlesi, they contribute to the morbidity and mortality in malaria endemic regions of the world. P. falciparum infection is however the commonest in Nigeria and the strategy to control and eventually eliminate malaria requires an understanding of the genetic composition of P. falciparum isolates from symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals infected with the parasite. Methods: Blood samples from 500 children under 12 years of age were screened for malaria parasite by microscopy method and confirmed by molecular methods. The extracted P. falciparum DNA were then genotyped, determined by nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using gene-specific forward and reverse primers. These were loaded unto 2% agarose gel for electrophoresis and fragment analyses. Results: There were 321/500 (64.2%) children who tested positive for malaria parasite. Of all the positive specimens, 99.4% were identified as P. falciparum species and 0.6% were identified as P. ovale. The genotypes of the PfMSP1 identified in the study population were MAD 20, RO33 and K1. MAD 20 was the predominant allele with 84.11% of total identifiable alleles, RO33 represented 10.9% and K1 was 4.99% of the total alleles. Conclusions: Three genotypes were identified in the present study population. MAD20 was the predominant allele. This can help to plan control strategy for the malaria infection in the study area.
Oluwafemi et al. (Thu,) studied this question.