title: PCR -- based diagnosis to evaluate the performance of malaria reference centers.
abstract: Although the Giemsa-stained thick blood smear (GTS) remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of malaria, molecular methods are more sensitive and specific to detect parasites and can be used at reference centers to evaluate the performance of microscopy. The description of the Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae and P. ovale ssrRNA gene sequences allowed the development of a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that had been used to differentiate the four species. The objective of this study was to determine Plasmodium species through PCR in 190 positive smears from patients in order to verify the quality of diagnosis at SUCEN's Malaria Laboratory. Considering only the 131 positive results in both techniques, GTS detected 4.6% of mixed and 3.1% of P. malariae infections whereas PCR identified 19.1% and 13.8%, respectively.
authors.affiliation: Núcleo de Estudos em Malária, Superintendência de Controle de Endemias (SUCEN), Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo, Universidade de São Paulo, 05403-000, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. santi@usp.br
authors.forename: Silvia Maria
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Di Santi
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kirchgatter
authors.forename: Karen Cristina Sant'Anna
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Brunialti
authors.forename: Alessandra Mota
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Sergio Roberto Santos
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Marcos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boulos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001399:Azure Stains; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories / Q000592:standards*; D008288:Malaria / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D011786:Quality Control; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D001399:Azure Stains; D016054:DNA, Protozoan