Short communication: An assessment of the use of malaria rapid tests by village health volunteers in rural Laos.
Rapid malaria diagnosis, a key component of malaria control strategies, is hampered by the expense and training requirements of reliable microscopy. Rapid malaria antigen tests may improve the diagnosis of malaria in the rural tropics. After 1 h training 64 village health volunteers (VHVs) from rural Laos, with no previous laboratory experience, performed two malaria rapid diagnostic tests (ParacheckPf and OptiMAL) accurately. The reliability of six VHVs was assessed longitudinally, over 10 months with different frequencies of retraining. Compared with microscopy, error rates in dipstick interpretation were low (<2%) for both tests and were not associated with retraining frequency (P>0.2). Previously untrained Lao VHVs performed malaria rapid tests reliably with high sensitivity and specificity after minimal training.
Faculty of Medical Science, National University of Laos, Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic. mmayxay@yahoo.com
Mayfong
M
Mayxay
Paul N
PN
Newton
Shunmay
S
Yeung
Tiengkham
T
Pongvongsa
Samlane
S
Phompida
Rattanaxay
R
Phetsouvanh
Nicholas J
NJ
White
D000328:Adult; D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D002845:Chromatography / Q000379:methods; D003150:Community Health Workers / Q000193:education; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003951:Diagnostic Errors; D006801:Humans; D007812:Laos / Q000453:epidemiology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008288:Malaria / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D016780:Malaria, Vivax / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012423:Rural Health
D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic