rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs)

Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have been described as a source of genetic material to analyse malaria parasites in proof-of-concept studies. The increasing use of RDTs (e.g., in focal or mass screening and treatment campaigns) makes this approach particularly attractive for large-scale investigations of parasite populations. In this study, the complexity of Plasmodium falciparum infections, parasite load and chloroquine resistance transporter gene mutations were investigated in DNA samples extracted from positive RDTs, obtained in a routine setting and archived at ambient temperature.

In this high transmission setting, EPF sampling with rtPCR analysis has satisfactory diagnostic performance in estimation of mean prevalence and prevalence by school upon direct comparison with POC-RDTs.

Although there was a significant agreement in the outcomes of RDT and microscopy tests, the discriminatory accuracy of RDT was weak.

These results depict One Step malaria HRP-II RDT to be better in detecting placental P. falciparum infection in pregnant women compared to Giemsa-stained peripheral thick blood smear.

Drug sellers can use RDTs in field conditions and achieve acceptable accuracy for malaria diagnosis, and they comply with the RDT results.