SummaryWe compared the performance of Paracheck-PfÒ, a new and cheap rapid malaria test, with ICT-Pf/PvÒ and microscopy in two malaria surveys in Thai villages on the Thai-Burmese border. The speci®city, sensitivity, predictive positive and negative values of the Paracheck-PfÒ and ICT-PfÒ tests were calculated taking microscopy results as the gold standard. The 294 ICT-Pf/Pv tests resulted in two invalid (no control line) and 11 doubtful results. Both the ICT-Pf/PvÒ and Paracheck-PfÒ tests reliably detected P. falciparum infections. However, Paracheck-PfÒ failed to detect three P. falciparum cases and likewise, ICT-Pf/PvÒ failed to detect the same three cases and an additional four cases. These seven cases were detected by microscopy and had a parasitaemia under 150 parasites/ll. At a cost of c. US $1.00, the Paracheck-PfÒ test, based on the detection of the P. falciparum speci®c HRP-2 protein, is a reliable, easy to use and affordable tool for the diagnosis of P. falciparum malaria.keywords malaria diagnosis, rapid tests, HRP-2, Plasmodium falciparum correspondence Stephane Proux, S.M.R.U.,
Evidence from epidemiological studies has established that depression is a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and that the comorbidity of depression with pre-existing CVD worsens the prognosis for sufferers of CVD. Depression has also been associated with other behaviours that impact on CVD, such as medication non-compliance, and an unwillingness to adopt an exercise program, that reduce the likelihood of successful rehabilitation from CVD. Published literature on the current knowledge of the association between depression and CVD is reviewed in this paper.
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