Malaria is the most prevalent endemic disease in large parts of the wo
rld and is subject to control by health authorities. Today, the goal o
f malaria control is to prevent mortality and reduce morbidity and soc
ioeconomic losses through the progressive improvement and strengthenin
g of local and national capabilities. The World Health Organization co
nsiders early diagnosis as the first basic element of the strategy to
control the disease. Traditionally, laboratory diagnosis has been made
using the thick blood film, which continues to be the gold standard t
est. However, this test has disadvantages such as the manner in which
the film is prepared, the level of training of the observer, the adequ
acy of maintenance of materials and equipment and its only fair sensit
ivity. Thus, many research laboratories have concentrated their effort
s on the development of alternative methods for malaria diagnosis. The
se include methods for the detection of Plasmodia within erythrocytes
(fluorescent microscopy, Quantitative Buffy Coat (QBC(R)), dark field
microscopy, nucleic acid probes and immunofluorescence), methods for t
he detection of plasmodial antigens in body fluids (radioimmunoassay,
enzyme immunoassay) and methods for the detection of anti-plasmodial a
ntibodies in serum (indirect immunofluorescence, enzyme immunoassay, W
estern blotting). Here, we critically review the various methods for m
alaria diagnosis based on the world's literature and our experience wi
th most of them, with emphasis on recent advances.