Evaluation of Microscopic Method and Rapid Diagnostic Test Compared to Polymerase Chain Reaction Test in the Detection of Plasmodium Vivax Parasite in Suspected Malaria Cases

This study was carried out with the aim of evaluating the rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and microscopic method in comparison with PCR in the detection of Plasmodium vivax parasites in suspected malaria cases.

In a cross-sectional study, out of 207 febrile patients suspected of malaria, for microscopic diagnosis, blood sample was taken from each person's finger and spread, and after staining with Giemsa dye, were examined with a 100 X optical microscope lens. Whole blood samples were collected from all suspected individuals and rapid diagnostic test (RDT), and also DNA extraction and PCR was performed. To check the validity of different methods while calculating sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, drawing ROC curve, Kappa coefficient (к) was used to measure the agreement of the tests.

In this study, microscopy and RDT compared to PCR have sensitivity of 96% and 94% and specificity of 100% and 98.2%, respectively also, the kappa coefficient in the microscopic method is 0.96 and the RDT was 0.91.

Considering the values of sensitivity and specificity, as well as the high kappa coefficient in the microscopic method and RDT, both methods have a very good agreement with the PCR.