Aminata Collé Lo research protocol

Aminata Collé Lo, a Researcher and Fellow of the MARCAD, calls for the monitoring of '' asymptomatic individuals to eradicate malaria''

The Senegalese researcher Aminata Colé Lô, whose research focuses on the ways and means to eliminate malaria in Africa, has advocated greater monitoring of ''asymptomatic individuals'' in order to eradicating this disease.

"The parasite responsible for malaria transmission is highly variable. It changes shape at the level of its genes to become'' resistant to drugs used. An eye should always be kept on the malaria status in the country'', recommended the specialist in parasitology.

Aminata Colé Lô was submitting her research protocol on malaria, on Wednesday, in Accra (Ghana), at the second annual meeting of the Alliance for the Acceleration of Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA).

Within the framework of her research, Mrs. Lô conducts "research on malaria in people who have the parasite in the blood but who do not show malaria signs, i.e. asymptomatic persons".

According to the researcher, these people who have the malaria parasite while not being ill are likely to transmit the disease.

 "The purpose of my research is to eliminate malaria in Africa. In Senegal, for several years, the department of parasitology of the UCAD, led by Professor Oumar Gaye, has been conducting studies on malaria'', which "have delivered results because malaria has declined drastically," she stressed.

"Now what remains to be done is to monitor'' and maintain the level of vigilance, added Aminata Colé Lô, holder of a Doctorate in parasitology from the UCAD and Fellow of the Malaria Research Capacity Development in West and Central Africa (MARCAD).

"I am submitting my project to the ethics committee, to conduct studies at the level of individual men. This committee should give its approval. I hope that at the MIM Conference (Multilateral Initiative on Malaria), in April 2018, my first preliminary results will be presented. Within three months, I will go out on the field and start taking samples among persons", indicated the Senegalese researcher.

"The objective is to look for malaria in people who are not sick. With the malaria status, people can say that this disease has disappeared but this is not the case'', since this disease is "always present even in endemic areas," she said.

"There is always malaria in people who are not sick," continued Aminata Colé Lô, whose intention is to also become involved in the monitoring of the effectiveness of the use of primaquine in children.