Identification of malaria parasites by fluorescence microscopy and acridine orange staining

The need for a technique that is more sensitive than the use of Romanowsky-stained thick blood films for detecting malaria parasites at low concentration in the blood is well recognized. One of the more promising methods appeared to be fluorochrome staining with acridine orange. However, reports on the efficacy of the technique were contradictory and it was not clear to what extent blood films taken under survey conditions would contain fluorescing artefacts that might confuse diagnosis. An investigation indicated that, provided reasonable care was taken, blood films made under survey conditions contained few confusing artefacts. However, it was found that, while acridine orange staining might have a slight advantage when large malaria parasites were present, it was inferior to routine Romanowsky staining for the detection of young trophozoites, the inferiority becoming more pronounced as the parasite concentration decreased.