title: Comparison of placental blood microscopy and the ICT HRP2 rapid diagnostic test to detect placental malaria.
abstract: Monitoring interventions to prevent malaria in pregnancy requires sensitive detection of placental infection. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are good candidates, but little information is available on their sensitivity on placental blood. We have evaluated the agreement (kappa coefficient) between microscopy and a Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2)-based immuno-chromatographic test (ICT) on placental blood from 1151 women at delivery. Prevalences of placental infection by microscopy and RDT were 5.1% and 5.0%, respectively, showing 82.9% agreement (p<0.0001). Discordances were found at low parasitemias (<500 parasites/μL) or negative microscopy. The results suggest that the HRP2-RDTs from ICT diagnostics is a good alternative to microscopy for diagnosing placental malaria at delivery.
authors: Barcelona Centre for International Health Research (CRESIB), Hospital Clínic-Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. ruth.aguilar@cresib.cat
authors: Ruth
authors: R
authors: Aguilar
authors: Sonia
authors: S
authors: Machevo
authors: Clara
authors: C
authors: Menéndez
authors: Azucena
authors: A
authors: Bardají
authors: Augusto
authors: A
authors: Nhabomba
authors: Pedro L
authors: PL
authors: Alonso
authors: Alfredo
authors: A
authors: Mayor
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000097:blood / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001769:Blood / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009073:Mozambique; D010922:Placenta Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D011247:Pregnancy; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000097:blood / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; C514457:HRP-2 antigen, Plasmodium falciparum; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic