Differential Diagnosis of Malaria by Peripheral Blood Smear, Antigen Detection and Centrifuged Buffy Coat Smear Examination.

Abstract

Purpose: Malaria continues to be a global public health challenge especially in the tropical and sub-tropical countries. Control and eradication of malaria have become very challenging issues and requires prompt treatment to save the patient's life, which in turn requires a rapid and accurate diagnosis. Several approaches have been developed in recent times to enable early and reliable diagnosis of malaria. Each of the techniques has their own advantages and disadvantages. The present study was undertaken to assess the usefulness of a modified centrifuged buffy coat smear (CBCS) technique for diagnosis of malaria and to compare it with a antigen detection test and conventional PBS examination. Material and methods: The present study was conducted on the blood samples of patients with suspected case of Malaria received in the department of Microbiology MMIMSR, Mullana. 50 positive samples were taken by RDT and then compared with PBF and CBC. The present study demonstrated the performance of a modified technique for diagnosis of malaria by incorporating a centrifugation-enhanced step into the conventional method of smear preparation and examination for malaria. This helps to concentrate the parasites, which are then easily visualized by microscopy and compared with rapid diagnostic test by antigen detection kit and conventional peripheral blood smear. Results: It was observed that while both PBS (100%) and CBCS (100%) had excellent specificity, But PBS had low sensitivity (94%) in detecting the malaria parasites as compared with CBCS (100%). Conclusion: It was concluded that CBCS is an easy, rapid and accurate technique and could be adopted for reliable diagnosis of malaria in resource-limited settings where RDT and QBC may prove to be costlier options.