P vivax evolving differently in different regions

Another finding from this study was that, when the researchers identified patients who were carrying multiple strains of parasite, the genomic data made it possible to determine how closely the different strains were related to one another.

“This means that we can now start to pull apart the genetic complexity of individual Plasmodium vivax infections and work out whether the parasites came from one or more mosquito bites,” Kwiatkowski said. “It provides a way of addressing fundamental questions about how P vivax is transmitted and how it persists within a community and, in particular, about the biology of relapsing infections.”