Edta blood tube

Newborn (day P2) mice were given paw tattoos to assist identification. Newborn mice were weighed on P5, 7 and 10 prior to blood collection. Genotyping was performed by PCR using DNA obtained on P2. For blood collection, the anterior facial vein was punctured using a 30-gauge needle. Five microlitres of blood were collected using a micropipette and dispensed into an EDTA blood tube (Sarstedt) with PBS to a total volume of 200 μl. Automated cell counts were performed on blood collected from newborn mice using an Advia 2120 haematological analyser (Siemens). Reticulated platelets in newborn mice were enumerated using staining with thiazole orange.^{48 (link)}

We performed a cross-sectional study in February/March 2016 to assess the prevalence of Plasmodium infections in 840 individuals aged from 1–96 years in a rural area of Gabon (Fougamou and villages in the surroundings). The area is characterized by close proximity to primary rain forest and small-scale farming. We invited everybody who lived in the chosen area and was older than 1 year to take part in the study. Blood was collected by venipuncture in an EDTA blood tube (Sarstedt), and temperature was taken by axillary measurement. A Giemsa-stained thin and a thick blood smear was performed and analyzed by Lambaréné method reading 100 microscopic fields on the same day by microscopy. All malaria cases (all species) that were diagnosed positive by thick blood smear were treated according to the national guidelines (three days treatment of artemether-lumefantrine or artesunate-amodiaquine irrespective of the Plasmodium species, no treatment for hypnozoites was given). Whole blood samples (500 µL) were collected mixed with 1,300 µL RNALater (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and stored at −20 °C until nucleic acid extraction was performed.