Table 3.

The consequences of low level gametocyte transcripts in asexual parasites and gametocytes of the opposite sex for assessing gametocyte prevalence and density

Asexual parasite density		False positive signal in gametocyte quantification		Trust prevalence/estimated density if density is significantly above
Log10/mL		FG	MG	FG	MG
4	10/µL	0.001/µL	0.0001/µL	Any	Any
5	100/µL	0.01/µL	0.001/µL	Any	Any
6	1000/µL	0.1/µL	0.01/µL	0.1/µL	Any
7	10,000/µL	1/µL	0.1/µL	1/µL	0.1/µL
8	100,000/µL	10/µL	1/µL	10/µL	1/µL

Numbers in italics are above the limit of detection. Other estimates are presented to illustrate the marginal impact of signal derived from asexual parasites on gametocyte quantification. The false positive signal strength for female (FG, CCp4) and male target (MG, PfMGET) is based on the comparison of NF54 (sorted) gametocytes and F12 ring stages