POMC and infection: To confirm that excess mixed Poc/Pow infection was not due to potential cross-reactivity in the 18S rRNA species-identification assays causing false-positivity of the minor species, we reduced the 87 mixed infections to 28 in which the Poc and Pow assays amplified within 3 cycles of each other; these represent mixed infections in which the minor species exhibits >10% the parasite density of the more prevalent species within the host.