[Analysis on the application of three methods for malaria diagnosis]

Area of Science:

• Medical diagnostics
• Parasitology
• Infectious diseases

Background:

• Accurate malaria diagnosis is crucial for effective treatment and control.
• Microscopy, rapid diagnostic tests (RDT), and PCR are common malaria detection methods.
• Comparing their diagnostic indices, species identification specificity, and cost-effectiveness is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the diagnostic performance of microscopic examination, RDT, and PCR for malaria detection.
• To compare these methods based on diagnostic indices, species identification accuracy, and cost-effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of blood test results for malaria cases from 2012-2015.
• Comparison of microscopy, RDT, and PCR using confirmed malaria cases as the gold standard.
• Evaluation of diagnostic efficiency, species identification specificity, and overall cost-effectiveness.

Main Results:

• PCR demonstrated the highest diagnostic efficiency (96.2%) and coincidence rate (95.3%).
• RDT showed the highest score for overall cost-effectiveness (37/42) and perfect identification of P. falciparum (100%).
• Microscopy and PCR were superior in identifying malaria species compared to RDT.

Conclusions:

• In P. falciparum-dominant regions, PCR and RDT offer high detection efficiency.
• PCR and microscopy excel in malaria species identification.
• RDT presents the most cost-effective option for malaria diagnosis.