Point prevalence of asymptomatic Plasmodium infection and the comparison of microscopy, rapid diagnostic test and nested PCR for the diagnosis of asymptomatic malaria among children under 5 years in Ghana.
PLoS One
; 15(7): e0232874, 2020.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32716936
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Plasmodium infection among children is a serious public health problem. Asymptomatic malaria infection among humans serves as a significant reservoir for transmitting Plasmodium to uninfected Anopheles mosquitoes, fueling malaria endemicity and asymptomatic malaria may progress to clinical malaria. Therefore, prompt and accurate diagnosis of malaria infection is crucial for the management and control of malaria, especially in endemic areas. This study assessed the point prevalence of asymptomatic malaria infection and evaluated the performance of malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDT), light microscopy and nested PCR (nPCR) for the diagnosis of asymptomatic malaria infection in a paediatric population in the Atwima Nwabiagya North district, Ghana.METHODS:
This cross-sectional study enrolled 500 asymptomatic children aged ≤ 5 years. After consent was obtained from a parent, blood samples were collected from each participant to assess for Plasmodium infection based on histidine rich protein-2 (pfHRP-2)-based malaria RDT, light microscopy and nPCR.RESULTS:
The point prevalence of asymptomatic malaria by microscopy, RDT, and nPCR were 116/500 (23.2%), 156/500 (31.2%), and 184/500 (36.8%), respectively. Using nPCR as the reference, RDT presented with a perfect sensitivity (100.0%), specificity (100.0%), accuracy (100.0%), and reliability (100.0%) in detecting asymptomatic P. falciparum infection. Likewise, microscopy presented with an excellent specificity and high accuracy in detecting both P. falciparum (100.0%; 85.6%) and P. malariae (100.0%; 100.0%). However, the sensitivity (56.4%) and reliability (56.4%) of microscopy was low for both P. falciparum.CONCLUSION:
The findings of this study indicate a high point prevalence of asymptomatic Plasmodium infection among children in Atwima Nwabiagya North district, Ghana. In the absence of the more sensitive PCR, pfHRP-2-based malaria RDT provides substantial diagnostic sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and reliability and is superior to microscopy.
Texto completo:
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Reação em Cadeia da Polimerase
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Malária Falciparum
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Testes Diagnósticos de Rotina
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Infecções Assintomáticas
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Microscopia
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
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Observational_studies
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Prevalence_studies
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Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Child
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Child, preschool
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Female
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Humans
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Infant
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Male
País como assunto:
Africa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article