Comparison of malaria <i>p.f/Pan</i> rapid diagnostic test device with field microscopy for the detection of <i>Plasmodium</i> species in Nigerian children

Abstract

Malaria remains a serious public health and life threatening problem to children under five years in Nigeria despite the tremendous efforts made to control the disease in recent years. This study was conducted todetermine the prevalence of malarial infection, identify the species of Plasmodium and determine the performance of the Malaria P.f/Pan Rapid Diagnostic Test Device as compared to microscopy in screening clinical cases of malaria among children under five years in Gboko, Benue State, Nigeria. Malaria P.f/Pan Rapid Diagnostic Test Devices and staining technique were used to determine Plasmodia antigens and malaria parasites in blood respectively. The occurrence of malaria irrespective of the Plasmodia species was 20.4% among the children examined. There was a predominance of Plasmodium falciparum malaria 14.5% among the malaria cases diagnosed (x² =8.93, p=0.002). No significant difference was observed between Malaria P.f / Pan RDTs (17.7%; 39/220) and microscopy (20.4%; 45/220) in screening malaria (x2 with Yates’ correction =178.5, p=0.57). The Malaria P.f/Pan RDT device recorded a sensitivity and specificity of 86.7%, CI (73.2%-94.9%) and 100%, CI (90.9%-100.0%) respectively when compared to microscopy the Gold Standard Technique. The study revealed that malaria is endemic with a predominance of P. falciparum among children under five years in Gboko, Nigeria. Both malaria P.f/Pan RDT devices and microscopy were comparable in screening malaria among the children. It is recommended that the use of Malaria P.f/Pan RDT devices should be encouraged in hospitals, though the combination of both methods will provide more accurate diagnosis.

Keywords: malaria, RDT, children, Gboko, Nigeria