Chloroquine was one of the most cheapest and effective chemotherapeutic drugs for Plasmodium falciparum-malaria, but for a long, the drug has been officially withdrawn in almost all malariaendemic countries including Nigeria, due to the development of resistance by the parasite. Withdrawal of the drug may make the drug regains its efficacy. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the presence of Biomarkers associated with chloroquine resistance from Gombe Local Government Area, Gombe State, Nigeria after its withdrawal in 2005. Twenty hundred blood samples were collected from consented study subjects and analysed using Microscopy, RDT and PCR. DNA was extracted using Quick-DNA™ Miniprep (No. D4069), Purity and Concentration of the DNA were determined using Nanodrop Spectrophotometer. 57 true positive samples were selected for molecular analysis. Nested PCR was used to amplify the required codon (C72S, M74I, K76T and N75E) position of PCRT the gene of P. falciparum. Both Primary and Secondary PCR was carried out. The PCR products were subjected to electrophoresis in 2% agarose and stained with ethidium bromide. The amplicons were purified and sequenced, after which the sequenced products were subjected to BLAST software. Single Nucleotide Polymorphism was recorded from C72S and K76T with a prevalence of 05(8.80%) and 46(80.70%) respectively. Confirmed biomarkers of Chloroquine resistance are still present in P. falciparum isolate from Gombe L.G.A.

Malaria control and its elimination heavenly depend on successful and reliable diagnosis using recommended diagnostic techniques. These available techniques often have certain peculiarities and mode applications, thus making them have different levels of performance and accuracy. Therefore the aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of PCR in relation to Rapid Diagnostic Test Kit (SD Bio line Malaria Ag P.f (05fk50)) in malaria diagnosis. A total of 200 blood samples were collected from the consented study subjects using the vein puncture technique and analysed using PCR and RDTs. Plasmodium falcifarum's DNA was extracted using Quick-DNA™ Miniprep Plus Kit with catalog number D4069. 18SrRNA gene of Plasmodium falciparum from chromosome 13 was amplified using the two primers. For the RDTs technique, the SD Bio line Malaria Ag P.f (05fk50) test kit was used. Malaria prevalence of 106(53.0%) and 132(66.0%) were recorded using PCR and RDTs respectively. The PCR demonstrates an overall accuracy of 0.53 with sensitivity and specificity values of 56.06 and 52.94% respectively. The negative and positive predictive values were 69.81 and 38.30% respectively. PCR demonstrated a good level of performance and is therefore recommended as an effective diagnostic tool for malaria, especially in patients where the parasite density/parasitaemia level is very low.

Successful malaria diagnosis is the mainstay of successful treatment, prevention and eradication of malaria infection. Apart from the gold standard technique (Microscopy), numerous diagnostic techniques perform a similar function to microscopy and in most cases tend to have varying sensitivity and specificity, especially when compared with the gold standard technique. Therefore this study aimed to determine the Performance and accuracy of SD Bioline Malaria Ag P.f (05fk50) (Rapid Diagnostic Test kit) to Gold standard (Microscopy). A total of two hundred (200) samples were collected from the consented study subjects and analyzed using RDT and Giemsa staining technique. The result revealed an overall prevalence of 132(66.0%) and 167(83.5%) respectively by RDT and Microscopy, where 115 (57.5%) were true positive, there was no significant difference between the two techniques (P> 0.05, df= 1, χ 2 = 3.695). The RDT recorded a sensitivity and specificity value of 68.86% and 48.48% respectively with a positive predictive value of 87.78% and a negative predictive value of 23.53%. The RDT recorded an overall accuracy of 0.66. The Rapid Diagnostic test kit used in the present demonstrated a high level of sensitivity and positive predictive value with relatively low specificity and negative predictive value. Regular checks on the Performance and accuracy of all brands of RDT should be conducted as their performance can be easily affected by some intrinsic and extrinsic factors.