Implementation and application of a multiplex assay to detect malaria-specific antibodies: a promising tool for assessing malaria transmission in Southeast Asian pre-elimination areas

Epidemiological surveillance is a key activity in malaria control and elimination in low-transmission and pre-elimination settings. Hence, sensitive tools for estimating malaria force of infection are crucial. Serological markers might provide additional information in estimating force of infection in low-endemic areas along with classical parasite detection methods. Serological markers can be used to estimate recent, past or present malaria exposure, depending on the used markers and their half-life. An assay based on 14 Plasmodium-specific peptides, one peptide specific for Anopheles gambiae saliva protein and five Plasmodium-specific recombinant proteins was developed for the MAGPIX system, assessed for its performance, and applied on blood spots from 2000 individuals collected in the Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. A significant correlation for the use of 1000 and 2000 beads/antigen/well as well as for the monoplex versus multiplex assay was observed for all antigens (p