e318 14th International Congress on Infectious Diseases (ICID) Abstracts fungi, including both yeasts and many moulds (Zygomycetes being a major exception). Detection of 1,3-beta, D-glucan is approved for clinical use though cost and technical issues have limited its clinical acceptance for routine use. These methods are aimed at providing non-invasive and rapid methods for establishing a diagnosis of these often lethal infections. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2010.02.2194 Burden of Plasmodium vivax malaria in Latin Amer- ica (Invited Presentation) 64.001 Epidemiology of P. vivax Malaria in the World and Latin America A.J. Rodriguez-Morales Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, DC, Venezuela Morbidity and mortality burden of malaria, particu- larly in children, represents a public health threat also in those countries from regions such as South East Asia and Latin America with moderate to low levels of transmis- sion. Between them epidemiological patterns are similar, lower malaria inoculation rates sustained with a predom- inant prevalence of Plasmodium vivax infection. Malaria mortality in these areas has been mainly attributed to P. falciparum, but its direct and indirect burden has not well defined. These patterns are increasingly causing concern in some countries. Globally, ∼250 million clinical episodes occur annually (2.7 in Latin America); most of these are caused by infection with P. falciparum and P. vivax. Although P. falciparum is justifiably regarded as the greater menace because of its high mortality, widespread antimalarial drugs resistance and its dominance on Africa, malaria due to P. vivax has also placed significant burdens on health, longevity and general prosperity of large sections of the human pop- ulation. The debilitating impact of P. vivax malaria remains high, unacceptable and preventable for well over one billion inhabitants of the planet. Complicated and even fatal cases of malaria due to P. vivax have been increasingly reported in the medical literature. Plasmodium vivax can cause both sequestration-related and non-sequestration-related com- plications of severe malaria, including cerebral malaria, renal failure, circulatory collapse, severe anemia, abnormal bleeding, ARDS and jaundice. In Latin America the burden of mortality due to malaria, although decreasing, is still signifi- cant. Powerful antimalarial campaigns in the region directed mainly to P. falciparum achieved a significant reduction of mortality in the last century. Evidence suggests that P. vivax can imposes a significant burden of mortality that may have resulted from its interaction with other diseases and con- ditions. These and other epidemiological issues are herein discussed at a global level and focused in Latin America. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2010.02.2195 64.002 Molecular Epidemiology of P. vivax: tools for Malaria Con- trol A. Escalante Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA Plasmodium vivax is the most prevalent human malarial parasite in several areas of Asia and South-Central America. Although Plasmodium genomics is improving our knowledge of the organism’s complex biology, population-based inves- tigations are needed to explore the extent of the parasites’ genetic variation, how the observed variation is geograph- ically distributed, and how such diversity affects or can be used to assess the success of control measures. Unfor- tunately, the lack of suitable in vitro culturing methods for P. vivax imposes the use of field specimens for popu- lation studies. Such circumstances have limited molecular epidemiologic and genetic diversity studies to a handful of antigens and few genetic markers that could be considered neutral, that is, that are not expected to be under natu- ral selection by the immune response or antimalarial drugs. First, I will discuss the emerging patterns on the genetic diversity of P. vivax using neutral markers and explore the value of comparative approaches to assess potential antigenic regions using closely related Plasmodium species found in macaques. I will show an example with genes encod- ing a well known antigen, AMA-1. Then, I will review the current status of our knowledge on the genetic diversity of this parasite in Latin-America. Overall, P. vivax populations in the new world have low levels of genetic diversity and undergo clonal expansions. Such low genetic polymorphism should be considered while using genetic markers in epi- demiologic investigations that aim to assess, for example, the frequency of recrudescent infections or the reintroduc- tion/expansion of the parasite in a given geographic area in the context of control efforts. doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2010.02.2196 64.003 Severe and complicated Malaria due to P. vivax J. Murillo University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA NO ABSTRACT RECEIVED doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2010.02.2197 64.004 Treatment, Prophylaxis and Resistance in P. vivax Malaria J. Torres Tropical Medicine Institute, Caracas, Venezuela The burden of malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax remains under-appreciated to a great extent, both in terms of its clinical spectrum and incidence of disease. Con- trol measures are hampered by both the emergence of chloroquine (CQ) resistance and the presence of dormant hypnozoite stages in the liver, which result in relapse infec-