Malaria epidemiology and comparative reliability of diagnostic tools in Bannu; an endemic malaria focus in south of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.

Malaria epidemiology and comparative reliability of diagnostic tools in Bannu; an endemic malaria focus in south of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Pathog Glob Health. 2019 Mar 21;:1-11 Authors: Jahan F, Khan NH, Wahid S, Ullah Z, Kausar A, Ali N Abstract The present study was aimed at elucidation of malaria epidemiology and comparing performance of several diagnostic procedures in Bannu, a highly endemic district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Dried blood spots were collected from patients suspected of malaria visiting a hospital and two private laboratories in district Bannu and processed for species-specific PCR (rRNA). Patients were also screened for malaria through microscopy and RDT. A well-structured questionnaire was used to collect patient information to assess risk factors for malaria. Of 2033 individuals recruited, 21.1% (N = 429) were positive for malaria by at least one method. Overall, positivity detected by PCR was 30.5% (95/311) followed by 17.7% by microscopy (359/2033) and 16.4% by RDT (266/1618). Plasmodium vivax (16.9%, N = 343) was detected as the dominant species followed by Plasmodium falciparum (2.3%, N = 47) and mixed infections (1.2%, N = 39). Microscopy and RDT (Cohen's kappa k = 0.968, p = <0.0001, McNemar test p = 0.069) displayed significant agreement with each other. Satisfactory health, sleeping indoors, presence of health-care facility in vicinity (at an accessible range from home), living in upper...
Source: Pathogens and Global Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Pathog Glob Health Source Type: research