Malaria is the leading cause of illness and death in many low-income countries, with infants and pregnant women being the most affected population, scidev.net reported.

There were 608,000 deaths from malaria worldwide in 2022, 95% of them on the African continent, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In the Americas, 520,000 malaria cases and about 120 deaths were reported in 2021 (the latest available WHO data), an 8% increase in cases but a 26% decrease in deaths.

At least 19 countries and non-endemic territories in this region are considered free of malaria transmission.

Plasmodium vivax is the predominant parasite in three-quarters of the cases reported in this region, while in Africa it is P. falciparum.

Detection of malaria in people without symptoms is essential for better control of this tropical disease in endemic areas, the authors of the study published in the journal The Lancet Microbe.

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