Immunochromatographic test for the diagnosis of Falciparum malaria

The diagnosis of malaria poses great difficulty at times due to non-availability of microscope, trained personnel or laboratory set up. We undertook the immunochromatographic test in 98 suspected cases of malaria for the detection of antigen of P. falciparum in the blood and to assess its sensitivity and positive predictive value. The sensitivity was 87.06% (confidence interval 77.57 to 92.55%) and the positive predictive value was 93.67%. This is a simple, sensitive and convenient test which can be performed in remote areas.