1. Performance of a histidine-rich protein 2 rapid diagnostic test, Paracheck Pf®, for detection of malaria infections in Ugandan pregnant women
- Author
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Aisha Nalusaji, Elizabeth A. Ashley, Benon Tumwebaze, Mehul Dhorda, Dan Nyehangane, Georges Snounou, Rose McGready, Eleanor Turyakira, Patrice Piola, Philippe J Guerin, and Carolyn Nabasumba
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Plasmodium falciparum ,Paracheck ,Protozoan Proteins ,Antigens, Protozoan ,Polymerase Chain Reaction ,Sensitivity and Specificity ,Antimalarials ,Species Specificity ,Pregnancy ,Virology ,parasitic diseases ,medicine ,Humans ,Uganda ,Malaria, Falciparum ,Quinine ,Rapid diagnostic test ,Fluorenes ,biology ,Obstetrics ,Diagnostic Tests, Routine ,Artemether, Lumefantrine Drug Combination ,Gold standard (test) ,Articles ,biology.organism_classification ,medicine.disease ,Confidence interval ,Artemisinins ,Malaria ,Diagnosis of malaria ,Drug Combinations ,Infectious Diseases ,Treatment Outcome ,diagnostic test ,Ethanolamines ,Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic ,Immunology ,Parasitology ,Female ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Improved laboratory diagnosis is critical to reduce the burden of malaria in pregnancy. Peripheral blood smears appear less sensitive than Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2–based rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for placental malaria infections in studies conducted at delivery. In this study, 81 women in Uganda in the second or third trimester of pregnancy were followed-up until delivery. At each visit, peripheral blood was tested by blood smear, RDT, and nested species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Sensitivity and specificity of the tests was calculated with PCR, which detected 22 infections of P. falciparum, as the gold standard. The sensitivity and specificity of blood smears were 36.4% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 18.0–59.2%) and 99.6% (95% CI = 97.7–100%), respectively. The corresponding values for RDT were 31.8% (95% CI = 14.7–54.9%) and 100% (95% CI = 98.3–100%). The RDTs could replace blood smears for diagnosis of malaria in pregnancy by virtue of their relative ease of use. Field-based sensitive tests for malaria in pregnancy are urgently needed.
- Published
- 2019
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