The Community ART Group model was initiated by patients to improve access, patient retention, and decongest health services. Early outcomes are highly satisfactory in terms of mortality and retention in care, lending support to such out-of-clinic approaches.

BackgroundMost malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) use HRP2 detection, including Paracheck-Pf®, but their utility is limited by persistent false positivity after treatment. PLDH-based tests become negative more quickly, but sensitivity has been reported below the recommended standard of 90%. A new pLDH test, CareStart™ three-line P.f/PAN-pLDH, claims better sensitivity with continued rapid conversion to negative. The study aims were to 1) compare sensitivity and specificity of CareStart™ to Paracheck-Pf® to diagnose falciparum malaria in children under five years of age, 2) assess how quickly false-positive CareStart™ tests become negative and 3) evaluate ease of use and inter-reader agreement of both tests.MethodsParticipants were included if they were aged between two and 59 months, presenting to a Médecins Sans Frontières community health centre in eastern Sierra Leone with suspected malaria defined as fever (axillary temperature > 37.5°C) and/or history of fever in the previous 72 hours and no signs of severe disease. The same capillary blood was used for the RDTs and the blood slide, the latter used as the gold standard reference. All positive participants were treated with supervised artesunate and amodiaquine treatment for three days. Participants with a persistent false-positive CareStart™, but a negative blood slide on Day 2, were followed with repeated CareStart™ and blood slide tests every seven days until CareStart™ became negative or a maximum of 28 days.ResultsSensitivity of CareStart™ was 99.4% (CI 96.8-100.0, 168/169) and of Paracheck-Pf®, 98.8% (95% CI 95.8-99.8, 167/169). Specificity of CareStart™ was 96.0% (CI 91.9-98.4, 167/174) and of Paracheck-Pf®, 74.7% (CI 67.6-81.0, 130/174) (p < 0.001). Neither test showed any change in sensitivity with decreasing parasitaemia. Of the 155 eligible follow-up CareStart™ participants, 63.9% (99/155) had a false-positive test on day 2, 21.3% (33/155) on day 7, 5.8% (9/155) on day 14, 1.9% (3/155) on day 21 and 0.6% (1/155) on day 28. The median time for test negativity was seven days. CareStart™ was as easy to use and interpret as Paracheck-Pf® with excellent inter-reader agreement.ConclusionsBoth RDTs were highly sensitive, met WHO standards for the detection of falciparum malaria monoinfections where parasitaemia was >100 parasites/μl and were easy to use. CareStart™ persistent false positivity decreased quickly after successful anti-malarial treatment, making it a good choice for a RDT for a hyperendemic falciparum malaria area.

Background. Triage is one of the core requirements for the provision of effective emergency care and has been shown to reduce patient mortality. However, in low-and middle-income countries this strategy is underused, under-resourced and poorly researched. Objective. To assess the inter-and intra-rater reliability and accuracy of nurse triage ratings when using the South African Triage Scale (SATS) in an emergency department (ED) in Timergara, Pakistan. Methods. Fifteen ED nurses assigned triage ratings to a set of 42 reference vignettes (written case reports of ED patients) under classroom conditions. Inter-rater reliability was assessed by comparing these triage ratings; intra-rater reliability was assessed by asking the nurses to re-triage 10 random vignettes from the original set of 42 vignettes and comparing these duplicate ratings. Accuracy of the nurse ratings was measured against the reference standard. Results. Inter-rater reliability was substantial (intraclass correlation coefficient 0.77; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.69 -0.85). The intrarater agreement was also high with 87% exact agreement (95% CI 67 -100) and 100% agreement allowing for a one-level discrepancy in triage ratings. Overall, the SATS had high specificity (97%) and moderate sensitivity (70%). Across all acuity levels the proportion of overtriage did not exceed the acceptable threshold of 30 -50%. Under-triage was acceptable for all except emergency cases (66%). Conclusion. ED nurses in Pakistan can reliably use the SATS to assign triage acuity ratings. While the tool is accurate for 'very urgent' and 'routine' cases, importantly, it may under-triage 'emergency' cases requiring immediate attention. Approaches that will improve accuracy and validity are discussed.

No abstract

We note the reemergence of human monkeypox in Sierra Leone following a 44-year absence of reported disease. The persons affected were an 11-month-old boy and, several years later, a 35-year-old man. The reappearance of monkeypox in this country suggests a need for renewed vigilance and awareness of the disease and its manifestations.