Case management of malaria: Diagnosis

Frean, John; Poonsamy, Bhavani; Shandukani, B; Moonasar, Devanand; Raman, Jaishree

doi:10.7196/samj.7442

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…There are several factors that could account for the sensitivity of the microscopic examination of thin blood smears such as quality of the smears (uniform dispersion of single cells vs clump of cells), duration and dilution of Giemsa staining, and debris and dirt arising from Giemsa solution [ 52 ]. Previous reports have shown a huge variation in parasitemia levels between 6.3% and 45.8% based on 48 microscopic slides circulated between four laboratories in Mpumalanga province of South Africa [ 53 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A portable image-based cytometer for rapid malaria detection and quantification

et al. 2017

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Increasing resistance by malaria parasites to currently used antimalarials across the developing world warrants timely detection and classification so that appropriate drug combinations can be administered before clinical complications arise. However, this is often challenged by low levels of infection (referred to as parasitemia) and presence of predominantly young parasitic forms in the patients’ peripheral blood. Herein, we developed a simple, inexpensive and portable image-based cytometer that detects and numerically counts Plasmodium falciparum infected red blood cells (iRBCs) from Giemsa-stained smears derived from infected blood. Our cytometer is able to classify all parasitic subpopulations by quantifying the area occupied by the parasites within iRBCs, with high specificity, sensitivity and negligible false positives (~ 0.0025%). Moreover, we demonstrate the application of our image-based cytometer in testing anti-malarial efficacy against a commercial flow cytometer and demonstrate comparable results between the two methods. Collectively, these results highlight the possibility to use our image-based cytometer as a cheap, rapid and accurate alternative for antimalarial testing without compromising on efficiency and minimal processing time. With appropriate filters applied into the algorithm, to rule out leukocytes and reticulocytes, our cytometer may also be used for field diagnosis of malaria.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A portable image-based cytometer for rapid malaria detection and quantification

et al. 2017

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“…within the covered sector). The proportion of symptomatic cases seeking care, and the proportion of those receiving a diagnostic test were evaluated using survey data from DHS or MIS [46–63], World Malaria Reports, and other scientific literature [64–68]. The proportion of points of care included within the surveillance system, and among those the proportion reporting [69–80] were assessed using primary surveillance data and government records such as the list of health facilities from each country.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In certain cases where measurements were not available, proxy data were used. For example, the availability of diagnostic testing at the point of care was used as a proxy for the proportion of symptomatic cases receiving a test in Cambodia (using stock data from the 2013 ACTWatch Outlet Survey [46]), in South Africa (using a study on case management practices [68]), and in Mozambique (using a study on the impact of malaria control tools [81]). Also, in Vietnam and Laos, no national surveys were available at the time of the landscaping to determine treatment-seeking behaviour for malaria-related fever, so values from independent studies were averaged [48, 64–66, 80].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening surveillance systems for malaria elimination: a global landscaping of system performance, 2015–2017

Lourenço

Tatem

Atkinson

et al. 2019

Malar J

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Background Surveillance is a core component of an effective system to support malaria elimination. Poor surveillance data will prevent countries from monitoring progress towards elimination and targeting interventions to the last remaining at-risk places. An evaluation of the performance of surveillance systems in 16 countries was conducted to identify key gaps which could be addressed to build effective systems for malaria elimination. Methods A standardized surveillance system landscaping was conducted between 2015 and 2017 in collaboration with governmental malaria programmes. Malaria surveillance guidelines from the World Health Organization and other technical bodies were used to identify the characteristics of an optimal surveillance system, against which systems of study countries were compared. Data collection was conducted through review of existing material and datasets, and interviews with key stakeholders, and the outcomes were summarized descriptively. Additionally, the cumulative fraction of incident infections reported through surveillance systems was estimated using surveillance data, government records, survey data, and other scientific sources. Results The landscaping identified common gaps across countries related to the lack of surveillance coverage in remote communities or in the private sector, the lack of adequate health information architecture to capture high quality case-based data, poor integration of data from other sources such as intervention information, poor visualization of generated information, and its lack of availability for making programmatic decisions. The median percentage of symptomatic cases captured by the surveillance systems in the 16 countries was estimated to be 37%, mostly driven by the lack of treatment-seeking in the public health sector (64%) or, in countries with large private sectors, the lack of integration of this sector within the surveillance system. Conclusions The landscaping analysis undertaken provides a clear framework through which to identify multiple gaps in current malaria surveillance systems. While perfect systems are not required to eliminate malaria, closing the gaps identified will allow countries to deploy resources more efficiently, track progress, and accelerate towards malaria elimination. Since the landscaping undertaken here, several countries have addressed some of the identified gaps by improving coverage of surveillance, integrating case data with other information, and strengthening visualization and use of data.

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“…Frean et al [4] deal with malaria diagnosis, a prerequisite for effective case management. They provide an account of the various options for malaria diagnosis in general, but also focus on two important diagnostic tools for malaria in SA -rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and microscopy.…”

Section: Forewordmentioning

confidence: 99%