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Hematological Profile And Gametocyte Carriage In Malaria Patients From Southern Pakistan, Najia Karim Ghanchi, Mohammad Hassaan Khan, Muhammad Abdullah Arain, Mustafa Bin Ali Zubairi, Ahmed Raheem Buksh, Muhammad A. Khan, Mohammad A. Beg

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Background: Malarial infection is a major cause of concern, both worldwide and in Pakistan. Gametocytes are the sexual forms of the parasite that are essential for transmission. They fuse inside the mosquito to develop sporozoites. Gametocytes of the plasmodium parasites, which cause the infection, differentiate into male and female gametocytes. These gametocytes constitute the sexual stage of the malaria parasite and are essential in transmission of the disease from human to vector Anopheles. Gametocytes are affected by factors such as host immunity, drug treatment, reticulocytemia, anemia, low levels of asexual parasitemia and stress to the parasite. The aim of this …