absence of asymptomatic malaria infection in a cross-sectional study in iranshahr district, iran under elimination programmes

background: asymptomatic malaria infection provides a reservoir of parasites, causing the persistence of malaria transmission. it accounts an important challenge for successful management of the control, elimination, and eradication programmes in any malaria-endemic region. this investigation was designed to assess the presence and the prevalence of asymptomatic carriers in iranshahr district of sistan and baluchistan province (2013-2014), with a considerable population movement, during the malaria elimination phase in iran. methods: finger-prick blood samples were collected from symptomless (n=250) and febrile (n=50) individuals residing in iranshahr district, easthern iran (hoodian, mand, chah-e giji, jolgehashem, esfand, dalgan and chahshour) during jan 2013 to dec 2014, and plasmodium infections were detected using light microscopic and highly sensitive nested-pcr techniques. results: thick and thin giemsa-stained blood smears were negative for plasmodium parasites. in addition, based on nested-pcr analysis, no p. vivax , p. falciparum, and p. malariae parasites were detected among the studied individuals. conclusion: investigation the absence of asymptomatic carriers in iranshahr district was illustrated and achieving malaria elimination in this area is feasible in a near future.