153 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 A. Loukas (ed.), Neglected Tropical Diseases - Oceania, Neglected Tropical Diseases, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-43148-2_6 L.J. Robinson (*) Vector Borne Diseases Unit, Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Madang, Papua New Guinea Population Health and Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Australia Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia e-mail: robinson@wehi.edu.au M. Laman Vector Borne Diseases Unit, Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Madang, Papua New Guinea L. Wini Population Health and Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Australia Ministry of Health, Honiara, Solomon Islands I. Mueller Population Health and Immunity Division, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Parkville, Australia Department of Medical Biology, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia Malaria Parasites & Hosts Unit, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France 6 Plasmodium vivax in Oceania Leanne J. Robinson, Moses Laman, Lyndes Wini, and Ivo Mueller Abstract Of the five species of malaria parasites infecting humans, Plasmodium vivax has the widest global distribution, with more than 80 million people infected each year (Price et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg 77:79–87, 2007) and 2.5 billion people at risk (Gething et al. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 6:e1814, 2012). Despite this, the major- ity of malaria research has focused on Plasmodium falciparum, responsible for the high burden of malaria-related morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa (Hay et al. Lancet Infect Dis 4:327–336, 2004), leaving P. vivax an important but neglected tropical disease requiring attention. Historically, malaria transmission in the Oceania region has been high with endemicity comparable to sub-Saharan Africa and ranging from holo- or hyper- endemic in Papua/West Papua provinces of Indonesia and the coastal and low- land areas of Papua New Guinea to meso- and hypoendemic in the archipelago