Plasmodium falciparum infections presenting either as symptomatic or asymptomatic may contain sexual stage parasites (gametocytes) that are crucial to malaria transmission. In this study, the prevalence of microscopic and submicroscopic asexual and gametocyte parasite stages were assessed in asymptomatic children from two communities in southern Ghana. Eighty children aged twelve years and below, none of whom exhibited signs of clinical malaria living in Obom and Cape Coast were sampled twice, one during the rainy (July 2015) and subsequently during the dry (January 2016) season. Venous blood was used to prepare thick and thin blood smears, spot a rapid malaria diagnostic test (PfHRP2 RDT) as well as prepare filter paper blood spots. Blood cell pellets were preserved in Trizol for RNA extraction. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and semi-quantitative real time reverse transcriptase PCR (qRT-PCR) were used to determine submicroscopic parasite prevalence. In both sites 87% (95% CI: 78–96) of the asymptomatic individuals surveyed were parasites positive during the 6 month study period. The prevalence of asexual and gametocyte stage parasites in the rainy season were both significantly higher in Obom than in Cape Coast (P < 0.001). Submicroscopic gametocyte prevalence was highest in the rainy season in Obom but in the dry season in Cape Coast. Parasite prevalence determined by PCR was similar to that determined by qRT-PCR in Obom but significantly lower than that determined by qRT-PCR in Cape Coast. Communities with varying parasite prevalence exhibit seasonal variations in the prevalence of gametocyte carriers. Submicroscopic asymptomatic parasite and gametocyte carriage is very high in southern Ghana, even during the dry season in communities with low microscopic parasite prevalence and likely to be missed during national surveillance exercises.

恶性疟原虫有症状或无症状的感染可能包含对疟疾传播至关重要的性阶段寄生虫（配子细胞）。在这项研究中，对来自加纳南部两个社区的无症状儿童的微观和亚微观无性及配子细胞寄生虫阶段的患病率进行了评估。对八十岁，十二岁及以下的儿童进行了两次采样，其中一个在雨季（2015年7月），然后在旱季（2016年1月），其中没有一个人显示出生活在Obom和Cape Coast的临床疟疾迹象。静脉血用于制备浓稠和稀薄的血液涂片，对快速疟疾诊断测试（PfHRP2 RDT）进行斑点检测，并准备滤纸上的血液斑点。将血细胞沉淀物保存在Trizol中用于RNA提取。聚合酶链反应（PCR）和半定量实时逆转录酶PCR（qRT-PCR）用于确定亚显微寄生虫的患病率。在这两个地点，在6个月的研究期内，被调查的无症状个体中有87％（95％CI：78–96）为寄生虫阳性。在奥博姆，雨季的无性和配子期阶段寄生虫的患病率均显着高于开普敦（P <0.001）。亚显微配子细胞的流行率在奥博姆（Obom）的雨季最高，而在开普海岸（Cape Coast）的干旱季节。通过PCR确定的寄生虫患病率与Obom中通过qRT-PCR确定的寄生虫患病率相似，但明显低于在开普敦海岸通过qRT-PCR确定的寄生虫患病率。寄生虫患病率变化的社区在配子体携带者的患病率中表现出季节性变化。