Histidine rich protein 2 performance in determining the prevalence of Malaria among patients presenting with clinical symptoms of Malaria
Chika Okangba, Charles John Elikwu, Emmanuel Olushola Shobowale, Opeoluwa Shonekan, Victor Ugochukwu Nwadike, Babatunde Tayo, Azubuike Omeonu, Bibitayo Faluyi, Chiamaka Meremikwu, Oyindamola Falade, Demilade Osoba, Tolulope Binuyo, Akinboboye Olutosin · Scientific Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences · 2016
Malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) is an antigen capture assay that enables rapid diagnosis of malaria without the need for electricity or highly skilled technicians. Though potentially useful, its adoption needs to be guided by local test sensitivity. This study evaluated the diagnostic performance of a commercially available RDT among 200 febrile patients (aged 2months to 72 years) in Ellison, Ogun State Nigeria. It was a prospective observational study conducted at the Babcock Teaching Hospital (BUTH) between February and June, 2015. Finger prick blood samples were collected from each of the patients (day 0) and immediately tested for P. falciparum malaria by both Giemsa microscopy and rapid diagnostic test (RDT). The prevalence of malaria among the study cohort was 15.0% by microscopy and 17.0% by RDT. The RDT had a sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 94.7%; with positive and negative predictive values of 73.5% and 96.9% respectively. The diagnostic performance of the RDT in this study was good. Hence, it is recommended as an alternative method for diagnosis of malaria, especially when microscopy is not feasible.