Aims-To study the accuracy of routine laboratory diagnosis of malaria with the aim of improving accuracy in diagnosis in the future.Methods-A comparative study was made of all blood films submitted to two laboratories in London providing a slidediagnostic service for malaria. Results-There were 17 Plasmodium ovale infections, and of these only five (29-4%) were correctly diagnosed by the submitting laboratory; whereas of 210 other single species infections, 162 (77.1%) were correctly diagnosed (2 -18*4, p < 0-0001). There were six patients with mixed infections; only one (16-7%) was correctly diagnosed, whereas of 227 single species infections, 167 (73.6%) were correctly diagnosed (p = 0007, using Fisher's exact test). There was no significant association between the presence of technical faults or numerous platelets and incorrect diagnosis. Conclusions-Plasmodium ovale and mixed infections were diagnosed incorrectly significantly more often than other species. The presence of technical faults or numerous platelets had no significant effect on whether or not submitting laboratories correcdy diagnosed malaria. (7 Clin Pathol 1994;47:740-742)

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Introduction The World Health Organization's framework for TB/HIV collaborative activities recommends provider-initiated HIV testing and counselling (PITC) of patients with presumptive TB. In Myanmar, PITC among presumptive TB patients was started at the TB outpatient department (TB OPD) in Mandalay in 2014. In this study, we assessed the uptake of PITC among presumptive TB patients and the number needed to screen to find one additional HIV positive case, stratified by demographic and clinical characteristics. Method This was a cross-sectional study using routinely collected data of presumptive TB patients who registered for PITC services at the TB OPD between August 2014 and December 2017 in Mandalay. Result Among 21,989 presumptive TB patients registered, 9,796 (44.5%) had known HIV status at registration and 2,763 (28.2%) were people already living with HIV (PLHIV). Of the remainder, 85.3% (10,401/12,193) were newly tested for HIV. Patients <55 years old, those registered in 2014, 2015 and 2017, those employed and those having a history of TB contact had higher uptakes of HIV testing. Among 10,401 patients tested for HIV, 213 (2.1%) patients were newly diagnosed with HIV and this included 147 (69.0%) who were not diagnosed as having TB. The overall prevalence of HIV (previously known and newly diagnosed) among presumptive TB patients was 14.8% (2,976/20,119). The number needed to screen to find

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Myanmar is making good progress with reducing the HIV burden in TB patients, but better implementation is needed to reach 100% HIV testing and 100% CPT and ART uptake in TB-HIV co-infected patients.