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Malaria remains as one of the major public health problems worldwide. About 228 million cases occurred in 2018 only, with Africa bearing about 93% of the cases. Asymptomatic population carrying the various forms of the parasite Plasmodium in endemic areas plays an important role in the spread of the disease. To tackle this battle, more sensitive and precise detection kits for malaria are crucial to better control the number of new malaria cases. In this review, we not only discuss some of the available approaches to rapidly detect new malaria cases in endemic areas but also shed light on parallel problems that may affect the detection of individuals infected with the parasite, covering kelch 13 mutation, glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, and hemoglobin disorders. Available approaches for malaria detection covered in this review are focused on point-of-care tests, including portable polymerase chain reaction and aptamers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To clarify the incidence of multicentric occurrence (MO) and intrahepatic metastasis (IM) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) related to hepatitis B virus in China and to identify the differences between them.Methods: Histopathologic and genetic features of primary and recurrent tumors in 160 cases with HCC were analyzed. The two groups, the origin of which was definitely determinable as of multicentric occurrence or as of intrahepatic metastasis, were analyzed for their disease-free survival and clinicopathological differences.Results: According to histopathological findings, 27.5% and 59.4% patients were considered to be MO and IM, respectively. By comparing the genetic information of loss of heterozygosity and microsatellite instability for 10 different markers between primary and recurrent tumor, 30.0% and 63.8% patients with recurrent HCC were considered to be MO and IM, respectively. In total, 126 cases with unanimous conclusions from the histopathological and genetic method were selected and divided into the MO group (37 cases) and the IM group (89 cases). Analysis of stepwise regression identified that recurrence time, grading, portal vein invasion, tumor number, and Child's stage were the most important discriminating factors between MO and IM (p < 0.05). As for their prognosis, Kaplan-Meier and log rank test showed that the disease-free survival in the MO group was significantly better than in the IM group (p = 0.002).Conclusions: Combined analysis of histopathological and genetic analysis may reflect more exactly the nature of recurrent HCC. The incidence of MO in China is lower than in other countries--30% compared to up to 50% in Japan [Morimoto et al., Journal of Hepatology 39:215-221, 2003; Yamamoto et al., Hepatology 29;1446-1452, 1999]. Recurrence time, tumor grading, portal vein invasion, tumor number, and Child's stage are the most important discriminating factors between MO and IM. The prognosis (disease-free survival) of patients with MO compared to IM is significantly better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]