title: Prozone-like phenomenon in travellers with fatal malaria: report of two cases.
abstract: Malaria diagnosis remains a concern in non-endemic countries, with rapid diagnosis being crucial to improve patients' outcome. Rapid diagnostic tests have high sensitivity but they also have flaws and false-negative results that might jeopardize malaria diagnosis. Some false-negative results might relate to a prozone-like effect. The authors describe two patients with false-negative rapid diagnostic tests in which a prozone-like effect might have been involved. The authors highlight that these tests should not be used without accompanying light microscopy observation of blood films and discuss potential benefits of using rapid diagnostic tests with more than one specific antigen for Plasmodium falciparum.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto and São João Hospital Centre, Porto, Portugal. maria.lurdes.uci@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lurdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Nuno Rocha
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Paulo Figueiredo
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.forename: Carlos Lima
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.forename: Cândida
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Abreu
authors.forename: Rosário
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Serrão
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: António
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sarmento
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods*