{
  "abstract": "Vanuatu had experienced a remarkable decrease in malaria since the mid-2000s but transmission hotspots remained on several islands. We conducted cross-sectional surveys in known hotspots on seven islands between 2017 and 2019. Among 6,943 participants we found low prevalence of exclusively submicroscopic Plasmodium vivax infections on Epi (4.3%; 95% CI 3.0–6.0%), Malekula (4.8%; 95% CI 4.0-5.7%), Santo (6.5%; 95% CI 5.3–7.7%), Maewo (0.4%; 95% CI 0.1–1.2%), and Vanua Lava (1.2%; 95% CI 0.5–2.8%). Regression analysis revealed significant association between P. vivax infections and age (OR = 1.07, p = 0.007) and enlarged spleen (OR = 5.36, p < 0.001) among 2,407 children ≤ 12 years. Microsatellite genotyping of 53 P. vivax samples showed that parasites on Epi had lower heterozygosity ( H E = 0.173) and haplotype diversity ( h = 0.731) than those on Malekula ( H E = 0.638; h = 0.990) and Santo ( H E = 0.751; h = 0.984). P. vivax effective population size estimates on Epi were an order-of-magnitude smaller than those on Malekula and Santo. Significant genetic differentiation (F ST = 0.018–0.138, p < 0.01) and apparent population structure were observed among these three islands. P. vivax populations had shown evidence of fragmentation at the island level in Vanuatu by 2019.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 8,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Chim W. Chan"
    },
    {
      "name": "Wataru Kagaya"
    },
    {
      "name": "Morris Kalkoa"
    },
    {
      "name": "James Yaviong"
    },
    {
      "name": "Harry Iata"
    },
    {
      "name": "Kalo Kalkoa"
    },
    {
      "name": "George Taleo"
    },
    {
      "name": "Akira Kaneko"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/aqab14pvpw5x4.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41598-026-76607-5",
  "fulltext_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-76607-5",
  "id": "aqab14pvpw5x4",
  "issns": [
    "2045-2322"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-76607-5",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "Q"
    ],
    [
      "lcc",
      "R"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2739|Malaria Research and Control"
    ]
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  "openalex": "W7223240111",
  "pdf_url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-76607-5.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-22",
  "publisher": "Springer Science and Business Media LLC",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/aqab14pvpw5x4.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:33Z",
      "native_id": "10.1038/s41598-026-76607-5",
      "source": "crossref",
      "url": "https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-76607-5"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:45:52Z",
      "native_id": "1bd1f708d4e64fee909cb127245650d7",
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      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-76607-5"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2739|Malaria Research and Control",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Prevalence and fragmented populations of submicroscopic Plasmodium vivax in Vanuatu from 2017 to 2019",
  "title_text": "Prevalence and fragmented populations of submicroscopic Plasmodium vivax in Vanuatu from 2017 to 2019",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T13:45:52Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/aqab14pvpw5x4",
  "venue": "Scientific Reports",
  "versions": []
}