Lack of knowledge regarding the microscopic diagnosis of malaria by technicians of the laboratory network in Luanda, Angola.
BACKGROUND
Malaria is still one of the most important public health problems worldwide. The diagnosis of this disease is still mainly based on thick blood films.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the knowledge about malaria diagnosis of the technicians of the public health network in Luanda, Angola, by means of a survey.


METHODS
This survey was carried out in three phases. In the first one, open interviews were done to technicians related with the different procedures for malaria diagnosis. In the second one, a preliminary questionnaire was prepared and evaluated. In the third phase, a definitive questionnaire was applied to 120 technicians from Luanda between April and July, 2013. The proportions of correct and incorrect answers were compared for every question of the survey.


RESULTS
Significantly higher proportions of incorrect answers (p<0.05) were found in the questions related to clinical manifestations, 68/52 (p<0.05), species of Plasmodium according to geographical areas, 76/44 (p<0.05), the type of granulations according to species, 96/24 (p<0.01), the class of microscope magnifying glasses used to observe the thick smear, 105/15 (p<0.01), the thick smear report, 76/44 (p<0.01), the time and preparation of different stain solutions, 81/39 (p<0.01), and the number of parasites counted per 200 leukocytes, 96/24 (p<0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Various failures for the microscopic diagnosis of malaria were observed amongst the evaluated technicians. These results will be useful as a baseline study before applying an educational intervention aimed to improve the quality of malaria diagnosis in Luanda's laboratory network.
Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Luanda, República de Angola. garciapembele@ipk.sld.cu.
García
G
Nazaré-Pembele
Lázara
L
Rojas
Fidel Ángel
FÁ
Núñez
D000810:Angola; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000469:parasitology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D017056:Medical Laboratory Personnel / Q000523:psychology*; D008853:Microscopy / Q000379:methods; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000469:parasitology; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011361:Professional Competence; D013045:Species Specificity; D013048:Specimen Handling; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
Angola.; data collection; laboratory personnel; malaria/diagnosis