@article{fdi:010064702,
  title = {{M}alaria continues to select for sickle cell trait in {C}entral {A}frica},
  author = {{E}lguero, {E}ric and {D}elicat-{L}oembet, {L}. {M}. and {R}ougeron, {V}. and {A}rnathau, {C}. and {R}oche, {B}enjamin and {B}ecquart, {P}ierre and {G}onzalez, {J}ean-{P}aul and {N}koghe, {D}. and {S}ica, {L}. and {L}eroy, {E}ric and {D}urand, {P}. and {A}yala, {F}. {J}. and {O}llomo, {B}. and {R}enaud, {F}. and {P}rugnolle, {F}ranck},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{S}ickle cell disease ({SCD}) is a genetic disorder that poses a serious health threat in tropical {A}frica, which the {W}orld {H}ealth {O}rganization has declared a public health priority. {I}ts persistence in human populations has been attributed to the resistance it provides to {P}lasmodium falciparum malaria in its heterozygous state, called sickle cell trait ({SCT}). {B}ecause of migration, {SCT} is becoming common outside tropical countries: {I}t is now the most important genetic disorder in {F}rance, affecting one birth for every 2,400, and one of the most common in the {U}nited {S}tates. {W}e assess the strength of the association between {SCT} and malaria, using current data for both {SCT} and malaria infections. {A} total of 3,959 blood samples from 195 villages distributed over the entire {R}epublic of {G}abon were analyzed. {H}emoglobin variants were identified by using {HPLC}y ({HPLC}). {I}nfections by three species of {P}lasmodium were detected by {PCR} followed by sequencing of a 201-bp fragment of cytochrome b. {A}n increase of 10% in {P}. falciparum malaria prevalence is associated with an increase by 4.3% of {SCT} carriers. {A}n increase of 10 y of age is associated with an increase by 5.5% of {SCT} carriers. {S}ex is not associated with {SCT}. {T}hese strong associations show that malaria remains a selective factor in current human populations, despite the progress of medicine and the actions undertaken to fight this disease. {O}ur results provide evidence that evolution is still present in humans, although this is sometimes questioned by scientific, political, or religious personalities.},
  keywords = {sickle cell disease ; {P}lasmodium falciparum ; human evolution ; {G}abon ; natural selection ; {AFRIQUE} {CENTRALE} ; {GABON}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{P}roceedings of the {N}ational {A}cademy of {S}ciences of the {U}nited {S}tates of {A}merica},
  volume = {112},
  numero = {22},
  pages = {7051--7054},
  ISSN = {0027-8424},
  year = {2015},
  DOI = {10.1073/pnas.1505665112},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010064702},
}