Abstract

Objective: To assess the accuracy of Paracheck Pf襆 in reference to the conventional light microscopy. Methods: A total of 400 patients visiting Awash, Methara and Ziway malaria centers were simultaneously screened with both light microscopy and Paracheck Pf襆 for the presence of Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) malaria. Results: Of the 1 90 samples that were negative by light microscope, the Paracheck Pf襆 showed 11 false positive and 179 true negative results, and from a total of 210 samples positive by light microscope, Paracheck Pf襆 accurately diagnosed 200 true malaria cases. Taking the light microscopy as a standard test for malaria, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of Paracheck Pf 襆 is 95.2% [cofidence interval (CI)=92.4-97.1], 94.2% (CI=91.1-96.3), 94.8% (CI=92.0-96.7) and 94.7% (CI=91.6-96.8), respectively. Conclusions: Paracheck Pf襆 showed good sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of P. falciparum malaria, and fulfill the world health organization (WHO) recommendation that requires the sensitivity of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to be greater than 95%. Therefore, Paracheck Pf襆 can be used as an alternative to the Giemsa stain light microscopy in resource poor set ups.

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