title: Accuracy and reliability of malaria diagnostic techniques for guiding febrile outpatient treatment in malaria-endemic countries.
abstract: The main purpose of this study was to assess the accuracy of various techniques available for diagnosis of malaria. Blood samples were collected from 313 patients with clinical suspicion of uncomplicated malaria in 2 primary health centers in Madagascar. The presence of Plasmodium parasites was assessed by conventional microscopy, 2 rapid diagnostic tests (one HRP2-based test, PALUTOP(+4), and one pLDH-based test, OptiMAL-IT), and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which is used as the "gold standard" method. The degree of agreement observed was very high for microscopy (0.99) and the HRP2-based test (0.93) and high for the pLDH-based test (0.82). Public-health implications are also discussed in this paper.
authors.affiliation: Malaria Unit Research, Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, BP 1274, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar.
authors.forename: Hanitra
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rakotonirina
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barnadas
authors.forename: Rogelin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Raherijafy
authors.forename: Hery
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Andrianantenaina
authors.forename: Arsène
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ratsimbasoa
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Randrianasolo
authors.forename: Martial
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jahevitra
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Andriantsoanirina
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ménard
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D007223:Infant; D008270:Madagascar; D008288:Malaria / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D008297:Male; D008853:Microscopy / Q000592:standards; D008875:Middle Aged; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan