An Update on Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests

AbstractPurpose of ReviewModern advances in malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) technology have increased demand for low-cost, easy-to-use assays in areas endemic for malaria. Substantial developments in diagnostic sensitivity and specificity, improvements in non-falciparum RDTs, and novel biotechnological innovations are gradually aligning the performance of RDTs with reference-level diagnostics including PCR and expert microscopy gold standards.Recent FindingsTrends have emerged in recent malaria RDT literature: (1) improvements in the sensitivity and specificity of RDTs forPlasmodium falciparum diagnosis, making them comparable to expert microscopic examination; (2) reduced false-positive and false-negative reactions with novel antibody development; (3) improved sensitivity and specificity capabilities ofPlasmodium vivax-specific RDTs; (4) developing RDTs for co-endemic mixed infection differentiation; (5) significant improvements of RDTs forPlasmodium knowlesi; (6) a global push towards assessing and confronting the growing concerns of widespreadpfhrp2 gene deletions; and (7) original innovation in loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) biotechnological RDT-like platforms that demonstrate promising performance characteristics forP. falciparum,P. vivax, andP. knowlesi infections.SummaryThe past 5  years have been characterized by increasing demand for malaria RDTs, translating into meaningful improvements in performance and novel biotechnological innovation. Future...
Source: Current Infectious Disease Reports - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: research