Bekele Sharew, Mengistu Legesse, Abebe Animut, Daddi Jima, Girmay Medhin, Berhanu Erko
Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute, P.O. Box 1242, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Bekele Sharew, Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Mengistu Legesse, Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Abebe Animut, Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Daddi Jima, Ethiopian Health and Nutrition Research Institute, P.O. Box 1242, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Girmay Medhin, Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Berhanu Erko, Aklilu Lemma Institute of Pathobiology, Addis Ababa University, P.O. Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of CareStart™ Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test relative to microscopy for the diagnosis of falciparum and vivax malaria in Ethiopia. Methods: 668 febrile patients visiting two health centers in Wondo Genet, southern Ethiopia, involved in this study in 2008. Giemsa-stained thin and thick blood smears were prepared and microscopically examined under a 100× oil immersion microscope objective for Plasmodium species identification and determination of parasitaemia, respectively. CareStart™ Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test and Paracheck Pf® test were performed as per the manufacturers' instruction. Findings: The diagnostic validity of CareStart™ Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test for the diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum were very good with sensitivity of 99.4%, specificity of 98%, positive predictive value of 94.4% and negative predictive value of 99.8%. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the test for the diagnosis of P. vivax were 99.4%, 98.2%, 94.5% and 99.8%, respectively. The diagnostic performance of CareStart™ Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test is comparable to that of Paracheck Pf® test for the diagnosis of P. falciparum (sensitivity 99.4%, specificity 98.2%). Conclusion: Although CareStart™ Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test and Paracheck Pf® test have comparable diagnostic performance for the diagnosis of P. falciparum, CareStart™ Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test has the added advantage of diagnosing P. vivax. Hence, it is preferable to use CareStart™ Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test for the diagnosis of malaria in areas where microscopy is not accessible and where malaria due to P. falciparum and P. vivax are co-endemic as in Ethiopia. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
disease treatment; malaria; medicine; microscopy; sensitivity analysis; adolescent; adult; aged; article; blood smear; child; controlled study; diagnostic accuracy; diagnostic test; diagnostic value; Ethiopia; female; human; infant; intermethod comparison; major clinical study; malaria; malaria falciparum; male; parasite identification; Plasmodium vivax malaria; sensitivity and specificity; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Animals; Child; Child, Preschool; Ethiopia; Female; Humans; Infant; Malaria, Falciparum; Malaria, Vivax; Male; Middle Aged; Molecular Diagnostic Techniques; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium vivax; Predictive Value of Tests; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; Sensitivity and Specificity; Young Adult; Africa; East Africa; Ethiopia; Sub-Saharan Africa; Wondo Genet; Plasmodium falciparum; Plasmodium vivax