Affiliation:
1. Centre for Tropical Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Ghana Medical School, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
2. Department of Child Health, University of Ghana Medical School, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
3. Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department of Immunology and Microbiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
4. Department of Clinical Microbiology and Department of Infectious Diseases, Copenhagen University Hospital (Rigshospitalet), Copenhagen, Denmark
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have been extensively evaluated and play an important role in malaria diagnosis. However, the accuracy of RDTs for malaria diagnosis in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) is unknown.
Methods
We compared the performance of a histidine rich protein 2 (HRP-2)-based RDT (First Response) and a lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)-based RDT (Optimal) with routine microscopy as reference standard in 445 children with SCD and an acute febrile illness in Accra, Ghana.
Results
The overall sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of the HRP-2-based RDTs were 100%, 95.7%, 73.8%, and 100%, respectively. Comparable values for the LDH-based RDTs were 91.7%, 99.5%, 95.7%, and 99.0%, respectively. A total of 423 results were true in both tests, 1 result was false in both tests, 16 results were false in the HRP-2 test only, and 5 were false in the LDH test only (McNemar test, P = .03). At follow-up, 73.7% (28/38), 52.6% (20/38), 48.6% (17/35), and 13.2% (5/38) of study participants were HRP-2 positive on days 14, 28, 35, and 42, respectively, compared with 0%, 2.6% (1/38), 2.9% (1/35), and 2.6% (1/38) for LDH.
Conclusion
The HRP2-based RDT fulfilled World Health Organization criteria for malaria diagnosis in patients with SCD and may provide diagnostic evidence for treatment to begin in cases in which treatment would otherwise have begun presumptively based on symptoms, whereas LDH-based RDTs may be more suitable as a confirmatory test in low-parasitemic subgroups, such as patients with SCD.
Funder
Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark
Building Stronger Universities
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Infectious Diseases,Microbiology (medical)