Detecting malaria parasites postmortem: Experiments, results, and implications
Recommended Citation
Setzer TJ, Sundellranby I, Les C, Pechy C, and Beste S. Detecting malaria parasites postmortem: Experiments, results, and implications. Am J Phys Anthropol 2016; 159:288
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-25-2016
Publication Title
American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Abstract
Identifying malaria in bioarchaeological contexts remains a challenge to researchers studying the coevolution of pathogen and host. In this study, we conducted a controlled experiment to determine if malaria parasites can be detected with microscopy in a postmortem context. Murine models (donated by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute) infected with Plasmodium sp. were dissected ten days after death. Parasites were observed. The methods used to prepare hepatic and osseous tissues, which were embedded in paraffin and examined, using 1000x light microscopy, are presented. The effectiveness of Wright-Giemsa and QBC Fast malaria stains, which are standard stains used in histology to identify malaria parasites, are also compared. Implications for biological anthropologists, in particular bioarchaeologists and forensic anthropologist, are presented, as well as caveats concerning preservation, data collection protocols in the field, and the interpretation of results.
Volume
159
First Page
288
