English

Abstract

Malaria presents a diagnostic challenge in most tropical countries. Rapid detection of the malaria parasite and early treatment of infection still remain the most important goals of disease management. Therefore, performance characteristics of the indigenous RDTs was determined among children with suspected malaria fever attending pediatrics OPD or admitted in indoor of UP RIMS n R Saifai central India, to assess whether this rapid diagnostic test (RDT) could be used for diagnosis of malaria and results were compared with Gold Standard microscopy test. We also assessed the logical utilization of RDTs to monitor treatment outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 03 months to 12 years old children who were presented with acute fever without any focus to the OPD or IPD of our department from May 2011 to April 2013 were selected for the study. A finger prick blood sample was collected from each clinically suspected case of malaria to prepare blood smear and for testing with the RDT after taking informed consent. The blood smears were read by an experienced microscopist blinded to the RDT results and clinical status of the subjects. The figures for specificity, sensitivity, accuracy and predictive values were calculated using microscopy as gold standard. RESULTS: Analysis revealed that overall sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the RDT were approx. 90%, while RDT is useful to confirm the diagnosis of new symptomatic cases of suspected malaria infection, the persistence of parasite antigen leading to false positives even after clearance of asexual Parasitaemia has limited its utility as a prognostic tool. The study showed that RDTs was easy to use, reliable and cheap for diagnosing new malaria cases, and is an appropriate test for the use in the fields and remote areas.