Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 18981501
Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 2008 Nov;79(5):670-2
We assessed the performance of two new commercially available rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for malaria (SD Bioline Malaria Ag Pf test and Ag Pf/Pan test) in 200 patients with uncomplicated malaria between August and October 2007 in Madagascar. Results of the two RDTs were compared with those obtained by microscopy and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The sensitivity and specificity for detection of Plasmodium falciparum were 93% and 98.9%, respectively, for the SD Bioline Malaria Ag Pf test and 92.9% and 98.9% for the SD Bioline Malaria Ag Pf/Pan test. The sensitivity of the SD Bioline Malaria Ag Pf/Pan test was much lower for detection of other species (63.6%). The sensitivity of the two new assays decreased to 77.3% at parasitemia levels < 100 parasites/microL for detection of P. falciparum.