A simple and fast method to exclude high Plasmodium falciparum parasitaemia in travellers with imported malaria

Malaria Journal

Research

Jan Jacobs¹  Pieter PAM van Thiel²  Marlies E van Wolfswinkel³  Perry JJ van Genderen⁴  Tom van Gool⁵  Rob Koelewijn⁶  Jaap J van Hellemond⁷ 

[1] Department of Clinical Sciences, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium;Department of Internal Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;Department of Internal Medicine, Harbour Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;Department of Internal Medicine, Harbour Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;Institute for Tropical Diseases, Harbour Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;Department of Parasitology, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands;Department of Parasitology, Harbour Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;Department of Parasitology, Harbour Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;Department of Parasitology, Harbour Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;Department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Erasmus University Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands;

关键词: malaria;    traveller;    imported disease;    aldolase;    severe malaria;    rapid diagnostic test;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-10-300

 received in 2011-04-19, accepted in 2011-10-14,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCounts of malaria parasites in peripheral blood are important to assess severity of Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Thin and thick smears are routinely used for this purpose.MethodsIn this study the Binax NOW® Malaria Test, an easy-to-perform rapid diagnostic test, with Histidine Rich Protein-2 (HRP-2) and aldolase as diagnostic markers, was used for semi-quantitative assessment of parasitaemia of P. faciparum.ResultsIn 257 patients with imported P. falciparum malaria, reactivity of aldolase increased with higher parasitaemia. In all patients with a parasitaemia above 50,000 asexual parasites/μl (> 1%) co-reactivity of HRP-2 and aldolase was observed. Absence of aldolase reactivity in the presence of HRP-2 was a reliable predictive marker to exclude high (> 1%) parasitaemia in P. falciparum malaria.ConclusionsAssessment of HRP-2 and aldolase co-reactivity can be of help in clinical decision making in the acute care setting of returning travellers suspected of having malaria.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© van Gool et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011