Volume : 2, Issue : 11, November - 2013

A Comparison of Microscopic Examination and Rapid Diagnostic Tests Used to Diagnose Malaria

Dr. Shivani Mehta, Dr. Bimal Chauhan, Dr. N. M. Shaikh, Dr. Juhi Shrivastava, Dr. Parul Shah

Abstract :

Malaria presents a diagnostic challenge. Microscopy remains the gold standard. However, microscopy is labour intensive and requires expertise and time, which causes therapeutic delay. Rapid malaria diagnostic test detects plasmodium parasite and is fast, reliable and simple to use. Objective: To compare the results of peripheral smear microscopy and pLDH/HRP2 based immunochromatographic RDT for diagnosis of malaria. Material & Methods: Study was conducted on clinically suspected cases of malaria. Microscopic examination was done on thin and thick smear, stained by field’s stain and pLDH/HRP2 based immunochromatographic RDT were performed and the results were compared. Results: Out of 4664 specimens 569(12.2%) were positive by RDT and 511(10.956%) were positive by microscopy. Out of 569 positive cases, 495 (87%) were P. vivax and only 74 (13%) were P. falciparum infection. Among 59 microscopy negative & RDT positive cases 41(69.5) % patients were positive for P. vivax & 18(30.5%) for P. falciparum. The sensitivity of RDT was 99.8% and its specificity was 98.57%. P value of 0.0605 indicates that there is no significant difference between diagnostic capacity of RDT test & microscopy. Conclusion: The results indicate that pLDH/HRP2 based immunochromatographic RDT demonstrated acceptable sensitivity and specificity. So it should be used as screening tool