The prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum in sub Saharan Africa since 1900

<p>Short term seasonal cycles are a fundamental aspect of the epidemiology of malaria. Longer-term climate anomalies, changing environmental and intervention landscapes also alter the likelihoods of mosquito-human contact or the duration of host infection. The supra-seasonal, long-term cycles of transmission are poorly defined for P. falciparum malaria in Africa. </p>

<p>To provide an empirical basis to define the long-term nature of malaria transmission cycles, we used data on the P. falciparum parasite rate, the proportion of persons positive for malaria infection among those examined. These data were assembled as part of an intensive search lasting 21 years. The data represent the largest ever assembled repository of any parasitic disease in Africa and provide information on over 50,000 community-based surveys across SSA since 1900.</p>

短期季节周期是疟疾流行病学的核心特征之一。长期气候异常、不断变化的环境与公共卫生干预格局，同样会改变蚊媒与人类的接触概率，或影响宿主感染的持续时长。目前针对非洲地区恶性疟原虫（P. falciparum）疟疾的跨季节长期传播周期，尚未得到清晰界定。

为明确疟疾传播周期的长期特征提供实证依据，本研究采用了恶性疟原虫感染率数据——即受检人群中疟疾感染检测阳性者的占比。该数据集是历经21年的系统性搜集工作所整合得到的。本数据集为迄今为止非洲地区规模最大的寄生虫病研究整合资料库，涵盖了1900年以来撒哈拉以南非洲（Sub-Saharan Africa, SSA）超过5万项社区层面的调查数据。