Detecting malaria in people who aren't experiencing symptoms is vital to public health efforts to better control this tropical disease in places where the mosquito-borne parasite is common. Asymptomatic people harboring the parasite can still transmit the disease or become ill later, after initially testing negative.
The dynamic lifecycle of this pathogen means that parasite densities can suddenly drop below the level of detection -- especially when older, less sensitive tests are used. Such fluctuations can make it difficult, when testing only at a single point in time, to determine if an apparently healthy person is in fact infected.
Malaria can produce severe chills alternating with sweaty fevers, headaches, nausea and other distress. Yet many infected people can feel fine.
A recent asymptomatic detection study was conducted in the Katawki District, Uganda, which has a high incidence of malaria.