COMPARISON OF THE PARASIGHT(TM)-F TEST AND THE ICT MALARIA PF(TM) TEST WITH THE POLYMERASE-CHAIN-REACTION FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM MALARIA IN TRAVELERS
P. Pieroni et al., COMPARISON OF THE PARASIGHT(TM)-F TEST AND THE ICT MALARIA PF(TM) TEST WITH THE POLYMERASE-CHAIN-REACTION FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM MALARIA IN TRAVELERS, Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 92(2), 1998, pp. 166-169
Citations number
21
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Tropical Medicine
Rapid and accurate methods are needed for the diagnosis of imported ma
laria. The ParaSight(TM)-F test and the ICT Malaria Pf(TM) test are co
mmercially available kits marketed for the diagnosis of Plasmodium fal
ciparum malaria. Both tests are antigen-capture assays based on the de
tection of falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 in peripheral blood. Us
ing microscopy and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based method as r
eference standards, we performed a 'blinded' comparison of these assay
s for the detection of P. falciparum infection in 200 febrile travelle
rs returning from malaria-endemic areas. As determined by PCR and micr
oscopy, 148 travellers had malaria and, of these patients, 54.7% (81/1
48) were infected with P. vivax only, 31.1% (46/148) with P. falciparu
m only, 9.5% (14/148) with P. ovale, 0.7% (1/148) with P. malariae, an
d 4.1% (6/148) had mixed infections. Compared to PCR, the ParaSight(TM
)-F and ICT Malaria Pf(TM) tests had initial sensitivities of 94% and
90% and specificities of 95% and 97%, respectively, for the detection
of P. falciparum malaria. When discrepant samples were retested with d
ay 0 and day I bloods, the sensitivities improved to 96% and 94%, resp
ectively. The 2 remaining false negative results with the Para-Sight(T
M)-F test and 2 of the 3 false negative results with the ICT Malaria P
f(TM) test occurred in samples with <100 parasites/mu L. The performan
ce of these kits was not significantly different (P=0.75) and both are
simple, rapid, and accurate tests for the detection of P. falciparum
infection in the returned traveller.