Detection Of Malaria Parasites Research Articles

Burden of Submicroscopic Plasmodium Infections and Detection of kelch13 Mutant Parasites in Military and Civilian Populations in Papua New Guinea.

Malaria remains a major public health problem in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and an important force health protection issue for both PNG and Australian Defence Forces. To investigate the malaria burden in the military and civilians residing on military bases, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in April 2019 at three military bases in Wewak, Manus Island, and Vanimo, PNG. A total of 1,041 participants were enrolled; 235 military personnel from three bases and 806 civilians from Wewak and Vanimo. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) revealed an overall high prevalence of Plasmodium infection in both the military and civilians. Among the military, the infection prevalence was significantly higher in Wewak (35.5%) and Vanimo (33.3%) bases than on Manus Island (11.8%). Among civilians, children (<16 years old) had significantly higher odds of being PCR positive than adults (≥16 years old). At Wewak and Vanimo, Plasmodium vivax accounted for 85.4%, 78.2%, and 66.2% of infections in military, children, and adult populations. Overall, 87.3%, 41.3%, and 61.3% of Plasmodium infections in the military, children, and adults, respectively, were detected only by PCR, not by microscopy (submicroscopic [SM] infections). Children had a significantly lower proportion of SM infections than adults and Papua New Guinea Defence Force personnel. Infection status was not associated with hemoglobin levels in these populations at the time of the survey. Mutant kelch13 (C580Y) parasites were identified in 5/68 Plasmodium falciparum-infected individuals. The survey results indicate extensive malaria transmission on these bases, especially in Wewak and Vanimo. More intensified interventions are required to reduce malaria transmission on PNG military bases.

Rapid and non-invasive detection of malaria parasites using near-infrared spectroscopy and machine learning.

Novel and highly sensitive point-of-care malaria diagnostic and surveillance tools that are rapid and affordable are urgently needed to support malaria control and elimination. We demonstrated the potential of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technique to detect malaria parasites both, in vitro, using dilutions of infected red blood cells obtained from Plasmodium falciparum cultures and in vivo, in mice infected with P. berghei using blood spotted on slides and non-invasively, by simply scanning various body areas (e.g., feet, groin and ears). The spectra were analysed using machine learning to develop predictive models for infection. Using NIRS spectra of in vitro cultures and machine learning algorithms, we successfully detected low densities (<10-7 parasites/μL) of P. falciparum parasites with a sensitivity of 96% (n = 1041), a specificity of 93% (n = 130) and an accuracy of 96% (n = 1171) and differentiated ring, trophozoite and schizont stages with an accuracy of 98% (n = 820). Furthermore, when the feet of mice infected with P. berghei with parasitaemia ≥3% were scanned non-invasively, the sensitivity and specificity of NIRS were 94% (n = 66) and 86% (n = 342), respectively. These data highlights the potential of NIRS technique as rapid, non-invasive and affordable tool for surveillance of malaria cases. Further work to determine the potential of NIRS to detect malaria in symptomatic and asymptomatic malaria cases in the field is recommended including its capacity to guide current malaria elimination strategies.

Comparison of Warmstart colorimetric LAMP using heat-treated samples with two Plasmodium-detection methods in Ekiti state, southwestern Nigeria

Background: Malaria remains a deadly disease responsible for numerous deaths worldwide, especially in tropi-cal developing countries. Widely used methods for diagnosis include microscopy, which is laborious, lengthy, and error-prone, and rapid diagnostic tests (RDT), which have recently faced limitations on accuracy. Molecular methods like the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) have emerged as accurate, sensitive, and rapid ways of detecting the disease. While PCR requires expensive equip-ment, LAMP is less expensive to perform. However, contemporary malaria LAMP still requires DNA extraction kits from patient samples. DNA extraction by heating can be used to lower the cost, time, and level of training required from end-users to perform LAMP in low-resource settings. Methods: Blood samples were screened for Plasmodium parasites using microscopy, followed by a commonly used RDT kit. Heat treatment was used for quick DNA extraction from the blood samples, and LAMP primer sets were then used together with Warmstart colorimetric LAMP reagents for isothermal DNA amplification. Agarose gel electrophoresis was used to confirm that the colorimetric observations in LAMP reactions were due to successful DNA amplification. The data obtained were analysed in GraphPad Prism and subjected to chi-square tests with 95% confidence level. Results: Warmstart colorimetric LAMP using heat-treated blood samples achieved successful DNA amplifica-tion and detected Plasmodium parasites in 43.3% of samples, compared to 40% and 30% Plasmodium parasite detection yielded by antigen RDT kit and microscopy respectively. However, the difference between the percent-ages obtained using the different methods was not statistically significant. LAMP approach further enabled the identification/discrimination of different Plasmodium species. Conclusion: The Warmstart LAMP using heat-treated samples can be used as a rapid, cheaper, and easier-to-perform molecular method for the detection and species-level differentiation of malaria parasites.

Confirmatory Assay for Laboratory Diagnosis of Malaria Using Molecular Approach.

Prompt malarial treatment and surveillance is crucial for accurate diagnosis of Plasmodium Sp. Gold standard microscopic examination has been widely applied for diagnosis of malaria in most part of the endemic areas. But in case of submicroscopic and asymptomatic microscopic diagnosis is questioned. The study aims to develop a simple, cost effective & robust nucleic acid amplification technique for the detection of malaria parasite. Study population included 50 clinically diagnosed positive malaria patient samples from various pathological laboratories. Microscopy by preparing thick film was carried out of every sample for primary screening in the available facility of Surat Raktadan Kendra & Research Centre- Blood Bank. The conventional PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) was applied for genus-specific amplification targeting the 18S rRNA gene of Plasmodium. Agarose gel electrophoresis was used to separate and analyze the amplified PCR product using 2% Agarose gel. The study shows that nested PCR not only detected all microscopic positive samples, but also detected submicroscopic infections that were missed or misread by microscopy. Hence, the sensitivity of molecular based detection technique is proved to be more compared to microscopic examination.

Status of selected biochemical and coagulation profiles and platelet count in malaria and malaria-Schistosoma mansoni co-infection among patients attending at Dembiya selected Health Institutions, Northwest Ethiopia

Malaria and schistosomiasis are infectious diseases that cause coagulation disorders, biochemical abnormalities, and thrombocytopenia. Malaria and Schistosoma mansoni co-infection cause exacerbations of health consequences and co-morbidities.This study aimed to compare the effect of malaria and Schistosoma mansoni co-infection and malaria infection on selected biochemical and coagulation profiles, and platelet count. An institutional-based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted from March 30 to August 10, 2022. A total of 70 individuals were enrolled in the study using a convenient sampling technique. Wet mount and Kato Katz techniques were conducted to detect Schistosoma mansoni in a stool sample. Blood films were prepared for the detection of plasmodium. The data was coded and entered into EpiData version 3.1 before being analyzed with SPSS version 25. An independent t test was used during data analysis. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The mean [SD] of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, creatinine, total bilirubin, and direct bilirubin in the co-infected was higher than in malaria infected participants. However, the mean of total protein and glucose in co-infected was lower than in the malaria infected participants. The mean of prothrombin time, international normalization ratio, and activated partial thromboplastin time in co-infected was significantly higher, while the platelet count was lower compared to malaria infected participants. Biochemical and coagulation profiles, and platelet count status in co-infection were changed compared to malaria infected participants. Therefore, biochemical and coagulation profiles and platelet count tests should be used to monitor and manage co-infection related complications and to reduce co-infection associated morbidity and mortality.

Molecular detection and identification of Plasmodium spp. isolated from captive-bred cynomolgus monkeys in Bogor, Indonesia

Background and Aim: Asian macaques are natural hosts of several Plasmodium species. Some monkey malaria parasites may infect humans and cause zoonotic infections. This study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of monkey malaria parasites in Bogor, Indonesia, based on molecular detection and identification, particularly in cynomolgus monkeys, which have a wide geographic distribution and share extensive habitats with humans. These data are needed to evaluate the status of simian malaria among macaques in Bogor and to study the potential risks to human health. These updated data will provide sufficient information for implementing malaria control strategies in the future and for developing a potential malaria vaccine using monkeys as an animal model. Materials and Methods: Blood samples of 274 cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) were collected and identified using microscopy. DNA was extracted from positive blood samples and analyzed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to amplify the small subunit ribosomal RNA (SSU rRNA) target gene using consensus primers for Plasmodium species. The PCR-positive samples were then nucleotide-sequenced using commercial sequencing services, analyzed using the BioEdit program, and aligned using Basic Local Alignment Search Tool from the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Phylogenetic trees were constructed using MEGA 11.0 and the neighbor-joining (NJ) method to determine the kinship of Plasmodium. Bootstrapping was performed using 500 replicates to assess the robustness of tree topologies. Results: Thirty-eight of the 274 microscopically positive samples for Plasmodium spp. were also positive using PCR, resulting in a 1640 bp amplicon. Further, analysis using nucleotide sequencing confirmed that these positive samples were Plasmodium inui with more than 99% nucleotide identity compared to GenBank sequences. Phylogenetic tree analysis of the SSU rRNA partial gene showed that all our isolates clustered and were closely related to a P. inui strain isolated from cynomolgus macaques in South China in 2011. Conclusion: P. inui is the predominant malaria parasite in cynomolgus monkeys from Bogor. Keywords: malaria, phylogenetic tree, Plasmodium inui, small subunit ribosomal RNA.

A deep learning based architecture for malaria parasite detection

During last decade, medical imaging has attracted great deal of research interests. Deep learning applications has revolutionized medical image analysis and diseases diagnosis. Convolutional neural networks (CNNs)-a class of deep learning-have been widely used for classification and feature extraction, and they revealed good performance for various imaging applications. However, despite the advances in medicine, malaria remains among the world’s deadliest diseases. Only in 2020, malaria recorded 241 million clinical episodes, and 627,000 deaths. The disease is examined visually through a microscope, which depends on the pathologists experience and skills and results may vary in different laboratories. This paper proposes an efficient CNN architecture that could be used in diagnosing of malaria disease. By processing on 27,558 red blood smear cell images with balanced samples of parasitized and unparasitized cells on a publicly available malaria dataset from the National Institute of Health, the proposed model achieves high accuracy rate with 99.8%, 98.2, and 97.7% for training, validation and testing sets. Furthermore, the statistical results approve that the proposed model is outperforming the state-of-the-art models.

Prevalence of malaria and comparative diagnostic performance of malaria rapid diagnostic test against microscopy in Nasarawa-west senatorial District, Nasarawa, Nigeria

Malaria is a vector-borne parasitic disease caused by Plasmodium species, and transmitted by the bite of an infected female anopheles mosquito. It remains a major public health challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa, a major cause of mortality and morbidity, especially in children and pregnant women. This study evaluated the prevalence of malaria and the comparative performance of rapid diagnostic test (RDT) against Microcopy, the gold standard. A total of 385 febrile consenting patients attending randomly selected health facilities in Nasarawa-West Senatorial District were recruited using simple random sampling technique. Malaria parasite tests were conducted using RDT and microscopy technique. Of the 385 samples tested, 115 (29.9%; 95% CI = 25.34 to 34.71%) were positive by microscopy and 103 (26.8%) were positive by RDT. The RDT had a sensitivity of 89.6% (95% CI = 82.48% to 94.49%), specificity of 100.00% (95% CI = 98.64% to 100.00%), Positive Predictive Value (PPV) of 100.00% (95% CI = 96.48% to 100.00%); and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of 95.8% (95% CI = 92.94% to 97.46%). The accuracy of the RDT was 96.88% (95% CI = 94.62 to 98.38%). Thus, the high diagnostic performance of SD Bioline indicates that it can be effectively used for the diagnosis of malaria. Microscopy however, was able to detect a higher number of positive malaria cases thus implying that microscopy remains a better diagnostic tool for malaria parasite detection than the RDTs.

Detection of Plasmodium spp. in asymptomatic blood donors by the new Brazilian NAT PLUS HIV/HBV/HCV/Malaria Bio-Manguinhos kit.

Transfusion-transmitted malaria (TTM) is a public health problem in endemic and nonendemic areas. The Brazilian Ministry of Health (MH) requested the development of a nucleic acid amplification test (NAT) for the detection of Plasmodium spp. in public blood centers to increase blood safety. The new Brazilian NAT kit named NAT PLUS HIV/HBV/HCV/Malaria Bio-Manguinhos was first implemented in HEMORIO, a public blood center in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Since October 1, 2022, this blood center has been testing all its blood donations for malaria in a pool of six plasma samples to detect Plasmodium spp. by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Since the implementation of the NAT PLUS platform until February 2023, HEMORIO has successfully received and tested 200,277 donations. The platform detected two asymptomatic donors in the city of Rio de Janeiro, which is a nonendemic region for malaria. Our analyses suggested a malaria from the Amazon region caused by Plasmodium vivax, in the first case, while an autochthonous transmission case by Plasmodium malariae was identified in the rural area of Rio de Janeiro state. The NAT PLUS platform detects Plasmodium spp. in plasma samples with sensitivity capable of detecting subpatent infections. This is the first time worldwide that a group developed and implemented molecular diagnosis for Plasmodium spp. to be used by public blood centers to avoid TTM.

Detection of Plasmodium in small ruminants in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, using a nested PCR assay

Abstract. Priyowidodo D, Wardhana AH, Sawitri DH, Prastowo J, Nurcahyo W, Awaludin A, Nugraheni YR. 2023. Detection of Plasmodium in small ruminants in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, using a nested PCR assay. Biodiversitas 24: 6722-6726. Limited investigation of natural malaria infection in small ruminants in Yogyakarta needs to be explored. Plasmodium sp., as the causative agent of malaria, has been proven to infect ungulates, including small ruminants. This study aimed to investigate the presence of natural malaria infection in goats and sheep in Yogyakarta. A total of 303 blood samples were collected from goats and sheep in this study from four selected areas by a cross-sectional study. A microscopic examination detected the Plasmodium stage in a thin blood smear. Nested Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) performed molecular detection, targeting cytochrome b (cytb) as a gene target. It was found that no Plasmodium stage was detected in thin blood smears. However, three out of 70 blood samples from Girimulyo were Plasmodium-positive based on nested PCR assay. The results highlight that molecular assay by nested PCR is more sensitive than microscopic examination. Molecular analysis revealed natural Plasmodium infections in Ettawa cross-bread goats, with a proportion of 0.0429 (95% CI: 0.0089-0.1202). There was no statistical difference between sex and natural malaria infection in goats. This finding suggests that molecular analysis is necessary to detect natural malaria infection with extremely low parasitemia levels. Therefore, further study with larger sample sizes and broader geographical representation is needed to fully understand these malaria infections in goats and sheep.

DLRFNet: deep learning with random forest network for classification and detection of malaria parasite in blood smear

DLRFNet: deep learning with random forest network for classification and detection of malaria parasite in blood smear

An imported malaria case with repeated episodes of neurological syndromes resulting from different Plasmodium species

BackgroundImported cerebral malaria (CM) cases in non-endemic areas are often misdiagnosed, which delays treatment. Post-malaria neurological syndrome (PMNS) after recovery from severe malaria can also complicate diagnosis.CaseWe report an imported malaria case from West Africa with two sequential episodes with neurological syndromes within about a month. The first episode was diagnosed as CM with microscopy-positive Plasmodium falciparum infection. The second episode, occurring a month after the recovery from the first CM episode, was consistent with PMNS, since malaria parasites were not detected by microscopy in peripheral blood smears. However, this diagnosis was complicated by the detection of Plasmodium vivax in peripheral blood by PCR, suggesting a potential cause of the second episode by P. vivax.ConclusionThis study suggests that PMNS often occurs after severe falciparum malaria. Concurrent P. vivax infection with pathogenic biomass being predominantly extravascular further complicates accurate diagnosis.

Performance and Comparative Evaluation of a Novel Diagnostic Assay, Novaplex™ Malaria Assay, against Routine Diagnostic Techniques in the Detection of Different Plasmodium spp. in Kenya

Performance and Comparative Evaluation of a Novel Diagnostic Assay, Novaplex™ Malaria Assay, against Routine Diagnostic Techniques in the Detection of Different Plasmodium spp. in Kenya

Ensembling Object Detection Models for Robust and Reliable Malaria Parasite Detection in Thin Blood Smear Microscopic Images

Ensembling Object Detection Models for Robust and Reliable Malaria Parasite Detection in Thin Blood Smear Microscopic Images

Comparative Diagnostic Performance of Microscopy, SD-Bioline Rapid Diagnostic Test, and Polymerase Chain Reaction in the Detection of Malaria Infection among Pregnant Women at Delivery in Kumba Health District Area in the Southwest Region of Cameroon

Introduction. Malaria during pregnancy is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Microcopy and rapid diagnostic test (RDT) recommended by the World Health Organization for clinical diagnosis have poor sensitivity to detect individuals with very low levels of parasitemia. Previous studies have shown that malaria in pregnancy is associated with mastitis and excessive uterine blood loss during delivery. However, information evaluating the performance of these tools in detecting malaria in pregnancy at the national level is limited. This study therefore evaluates the performance of microscopy, RDT, and nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) in the detection of pregnancy-associated malaria at delivery. Methods. A total of 227 participants constituting of 201 pregnant women without and 26 with HIV were recruited from five health facilities within the Kumba health district area. Mother venous and cord blood were collected at delivery to test for malaria using the thick-film microscopy, SD-bioline RDT, and 18SrRNA-nested PCR. Results. The percentage of malaria-positive cases detected by thick-film microcopy (TFM), RDT, and PCR in pregnant women with and without HIV was 7.69%, 53.85%, and 50% and 3.48%, 23.38%, and 49.25%, respectively. Plasmodium falciparum was detected in 1.99% cord blood samples of women without HIV by PCR. The positivity rate in at least two of the test methods (composite positive) was 42.31% for women with and 19.90% for women without HIV. The sensitivity of TFM and RDT when using PCR as a reference was 7.21% and 49.00%, respectively, in all samples. The specificity was 99.14% and 90.55% with kappa values of 0.064 and 0.461, respectively. When using the composite test as a reference, the sensitivity of TFM, RDT, and nPCR was 15.69%, 94.12%, and 100%, respectively. Specificity was 99.43%, 93.18%, and 65.34% with kappa values of 0.213, 0.821, and 0.458, respectively. Conclusion. This study shows that PCR is more sensitive in the detection of malaria parasite followed by SD-bioline RDT kit. However, in resource-limited settings where access to molecular diagnosis of malaria is a problem, RDT should be considered as the first option to microscopy in the diagnosis of malaria.

In Vitro Tracking of Sporozoites via Fluorescence Imaging and MRI Using Multifunctional Micelles.

Early detection could increase the treatment efficiency and prevent the recurrence of malaria disease. To track and detect malarial sporozoites, novel drug delivery systems have been explored for their ability to target these parasites specifically. This study investigates the potential of micelles to track Plasmodium vivax by targeting the Plasmodium vivax hexose transporter using glucose-based interactions. In vitro experiments were conducted using glucose/SPIO/Nile red (targeted) micelles and methoxy/SPIO/Nile red (nontargeted) micelles, revealing that the targeted micelles exhibited stronger fluorescence with the sporozoites and higher relative R2* values compared to the nontargeted micelles. These findings suggest that targeted micelles could be used for the specific detection of Plasmodium sporozoites using fluorescence imaging and MRI techniques, offering a promising approach for efficient malaria parasite detection.

Trials and tribulations: Developing an artificial intelligence for screening malaria parasite from peripheral blood smears

BackgroundDetection of malaria parasite from blood smears remains the gold standard for confirmation of diagnosis. Screening blood smears for malaria parasite has a sensitivity of 75 %, and requires intensive training of the laboratory technician. In the present study, we have attempted to develop an artificial intelligence to automate the process of malaria parasite detection. MethodsWe acquired 352 images of Leishman–Giemsa-stained peripheral blood smears, containing either normal red blood cells (RBCs) or parasitised RBCs. With a trial and error approach, we developed five deep learning models: (A) Naive deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) for trophozoites, (B) Modified Inception V3 pretrained neural network (C) Combination of model A and B, (D) Segmentation of cells from the images through Watershed Transform and naive tri-class DCNN (normal RBCs, parasitised RBCs, WBC/platelets), and (E) A naive DCNN model to detect ring forms. The images were randomly split into training and test sets and training was imparted on all the models. After completion of training, performance of each model was assessed on the test set. ResultsOverall, the best combination of sensitivity and specificity was seen in model D (85 % and 94 %, respectively) in detecting parasites; in addition to trophozoites, model D could also detect ring forms. The performance of model A, B & C suffered from lack of either sensitivity or specificity. ConclusionThe present study represents the first step towards development of a complete module for screening malaria parasites from automated microphotography/whole slide images.

YOLO-PAM: Parasite-Attention-Based Model for Efficient Malaria Detection.

Malaria is a potentially fatal infectious disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite. The mortality rate can be significantly reduced if the condition is diagnosed and treated early. However, in many underdeveloped countries, the detection of malaria parasites from blood smears is still performed manually by experienced hematologists. This process is time-consuming and error-prone. In recent years, deep-learning-based object-detection methods have shown promising results in automating this task, which is critical to ensure diagnosis and treatment in the shortest possible time. In this paper, we propose a novel Transformer- and attention-based object-detection architecture designed to detect malaria parasites with high efficiency and precision, focusing on detecting several parasite sizes. The proposed method was tested on two public datasets, namely MP-IDB and IML. The evaluation results demonstrated a mean average precision exceeding 83.6% on distinct Plasmodium species within MP-IDB and reaching nearly 60% on IML. These findings underscore the effectiveness of our proposed architecture in automating malaria parasite detection, offering a potential breakthrough in expediting diagnosis and treatment processes.

Standardization of DNA extraction from paraffinized spleen samples: molecular diagnosis of human malaria

BackgroundPlasmodium vivax is the main species responsible for human malaria in Brazil, and one of its manifestations is splenic malaria, though there are still challenges in its diagnosis. The present study aimed to standardize Plasmodium sp. DNA extraction from histological slices of spleen and diagnosis using real-time qPCR.MethodsThis study performed a microtomy of a paraffin-embedded spleen as a positive control for P. vivax from a patient who had been previously diagnosed with the parasite. The sample was deparaffinized with xylol and ethanol, then DNA extraction was performed with two commercial kits. qPCR was carried out with the Taqman system for detection of Plasmodium sp. and was made species-specific using PvmtCOX1 gene. From 2015 to 2019, 200 spleen samples were obtained from trauma patients subjected to splenectomy in Manaus, Amazonas. All the samples were tested for cell-free human DNA (cfDNA).ResultsThe deparaffinization and the Plasmodium vivax DNA extraction method was successfully standardized, and the control sample was positive for P. vivax. Of the 200 samples, all qPCRs were negative, but they were positive for human PCR.ConclusionParaffinization is practical and efficient for the preservation of samples, but the formation of bonds between proteins and DNA makes extraction difficult. Despite this, in this study, it was possible to standardize a method of DNA extraction for detecting P. vivax.

Detection of Plasmodium falciparum in Saliva and Stool Samples from Children Living in Franceville, a Highly Endemic Region of Gabon.

Due to the difficulty of obtaining blood samples, which is the invasive method that is currently used for the detection of Plasmodium spp., alternative diagnostic sampling methods that are effective and non-invasive are needed, particularly for long-term studies. Saliva and stool samples from malaria-infected individuals contain trace amounts of Plasmodium DNA and therefore could be used as alternatives. Malaria was screened using rapid diagnosis tests and confirmed via microscopy. Nested PCR tests targeting the Plasmodium falciparum-specific STEVOR gene were performed for blood, saliva and stool samples that were positive for malaria. Three hundred sixty-seven (367) children were enrolled and eighty (22.22%) were confirmed to be positive for malaria. Matched blood, saliva and stool samples were available for 35 children. By using blood smears as the gold standard for the diagnosis of malaria, our study indicates that Plasmodium DNA was more detectable in blood (100%) than in saliva (22.86%) and stools (14.29%). Applying qPCR to the STEVOR gene to detect Plasmodium falciparum DNA in saliva and stool samples cannot be considered as an alternative to the current malaria detection processes using blood specimens.