Histidine rich protein ۲ performance in determining the prevalence of Malaria among patients presenting with clinical symptoms of Malaria

Malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) is an antigen capture assay that enables rapid diagnosis of malaria without the need for electricity or highly skilled technicians. Though potentially useful, its adoption needs to be guided by local test sensitivity. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of a commercially available RDT among ۲۰۰ febrile patients (aged ۲months to ۷۲ years) in Ellison, Ogun State Nigeria. It was a prospective observational study conducted at the Babcock Teaching Hospital (BUTH) between February and June, ۲۰۱۵. Finger prick blood samples were collected from each of the patients (day ۰) and immediately tested for P. falciparum malaria by both Giemsa microscopy and rapid diagnostic test (RDT). The prevalence of malaria among the study cohort was ۱۵.۰% by microscopy and ۱۷.۰% by RDT. The RDT had a sensitivity of ۸۳.۳% and specificity of ۹۴.۷%; with positive and negative predictive values of ۷۳.۵% and ۹۶.۹% respectively. The diagnostic performance of the RDT in this study was good. Hence, it is recommended as an alternative method for diagnosis of malaria, especially when microscopy is not feasible.Malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) is an antigen capture assay that enables rapid diagnosis of malaria without the need for electricity or highly skilled technicians. Though potentially useful, its adoption needs to be guided by local test sensitivity. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of a commercially available RDT among ۲۰۰ febrile patients (aged ۲months to ۷۲ years) in Ellison, Ogun State Nigeria. It was a prospective observational study conducted at the Babcock Teaching Hospital (BUTH) between February and June, ۲۰۱۵. Finger prick blood samples were collected from each of the patients (day ۰) and immediately tested for P. falciparum malaria by both Giemsa microscopy and rapid diagnostic test (RDT). The prevalence of malaria among the study cohort was ۱۵.۰% by microscopy and ۱۷.۰% by RDT. The RDT had a sensitivity of ۸۳.۳% and specificity of ۹۴.۷%; with positive and negative predictive values of ۷۳.۵% and ۹۶.۹% respectively. The diagnostic performance of the RDT in this study was good. Hence, it is recommended as an alternative method for diagnosis of malaria, especially when microscopy is not feasible.

Keywords:

Malaria , Rapid diagnostic test , Microscopy , Ilishan-Remo , Nigeria