Asymptomatic malaria in apparently healthy schoolchildren.

We would like to discuss on the publication of the research article, “High prevalence of asymptomatic malaria in apparently healthy schoolchildren in Aliero, Kebbi State, Nigeria”1. Singh et al1 found that high prevalence of asymptomatic malaria detected in this study is a big challenge and can be a threat to the present malaria control programmes. The problem of asymptomatic malaria is of concern and can be problematic in diagnosis. The problem can also be seen in the low transmission setting2. The early detection of disease is the main challenge. The screening is usually questionable for its cost-effectiveness3. Many new alternative techniques such as pooling and real-time PCR combined with expert microscopy4 are proposed for diagnosis of asymptomatic malaria. Based on our experience from China, the use of new molecular diagnostic method could be a good active screening tool for determination of asymptomatic malaria and seems to be cost-effective5. Finally, in addition to the screening, the prompt treatment of the identified case is also important.