Detection and Differentiation of Malaria Parasites in DNA Extracted from Blood Samples by the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)
The purpose of this work was to construct a screening method to detect the small subunit rRNA of malaria parasites, especially Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax, in blood samples. The PCR method, using the nested multiplex primer set that has been effective for the detection and differentiation of both P. falciparum and P. vivax, was applied to DNA extracted from patients of the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea with abnormal hemoglobin, Hb J-Tongariki or Hb I-Toulouse. Since it was, however, not enough to certify the respective Plasmodia in patients infected by multiple species, confimation by the PCR method using a specific primer set required to detect the respective Plasmodia finally might be necessary.
