title: Update on rapid diagnostic testing for malaria.
abstract: To help mitigate the expanding global impact of malaria, with its associated increasing drug resistance, implementation of prompt and accurate diagnosis is needed. Malaria is diagnosed predominantly by using clinical criteria, with microscopy as the current gold standard for detecting parasitemia, even though it is clearly inadequate in many health care settings. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have been recognized as an ideal method for diagnosing infectious diseases, including malaria, in recent years. There have been a number of RDTs developed and evaluated widely for malaria diagnosis, but a number of issues related to these products have arisen. This review highlights RDTs, including challenges in assessing their performance, internationally available RDTs, their effectiveness in various health care settings, and the selection of RDTs for different health care systems.
authors.affiliation: Infectious Disease Service, Brooke Army Medical Center, 3851 Roger Brooke Drive, Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234, USA. Clinton.Murray@amedd.army.mil
authors.forename: Clinton K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Gasser
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Magill
authors.forename: R Scott
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Miller
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D008853:Microscopy; D010274:Parasitology / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic