Performances of SD Bioline Malaria Ag-P.F/Pan RDT for the Diagnosis of Malaria in Febrile Patients Living In Gabon, Central Africa

Abstract

The SD Bioline malaria Ag-Pf/Pan performances were evaluated for malaria species detection in 215 febrile patients living in Gabon, using microscopy as gold standard. Malaria parasites were identified in 94 (43.7%) individuals by microscopy, and 104 (48.4%) patients tested positive by the RDT. The SD Bioline Ag-Pf/Pan global sensitivity was 96.8%. All the non-falciparum malaria species infections were correctly diagnosed by the rapid test. The specificity was of 89.3% and the false positive (FP) rate of 12.5%. The test sensitivity significantly increased with parasitaemia, being of 88.9% for parasite density below 100/ µL and 98.5% at density higher than 500 parasites/ µL (p<0.01). Among the patients with a negative blood smear, the proportion of FP results was 21.0% in those previously-treated with an antimalarial drug before the consultation, and 8.8% in individuals without self-medication. SD Bioline Ag-Pf/ Pan RDT represents a good alternative to microscopy for the diagnosis of Plasmodium spp infection.