Abstract

*Halidou Tinto, Olivier Sombié, Innocent Valea, Ferdinand Lankoandé,SandrineYara , Palpouguini Lompo, Marc C Tahita, Adama Kazienga, Sayouba Ouédraogo,Hermann Sorgho, Maaike De Kroop, Raffaella Ravinetto

A study was conducted to assess the performance of the SD Bioline Malaria Antigen P.f® compared to the ‘’gold standard’’ microscopy as for the diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in Nanoro, Burkina Faso. Microscopy and RDT diagnosis were performed on 254 blood samples. 78.09% (189/242) were positive by microscopy compared to 93.8% (227/242) diagnosed by RDT. The RDT test reported 39 false-positive results and one false-negative result. The RDT showed high sensitivity of 99.47% [IC95%: 98.56-100], with sensitivity increasing with increasing parasite density. RDT specificity was 26.42% [IC95%: 20.86-31.97]. Low specificity limits accuracy for malaria diagnosis. However, in areas of hyperendemic malaria, high sensitivity is preferable to over diagnosis.