Diagnosis of malaria in pregnancy: accuracy of CareStart™ malaria Pf/PAN against light microscopy among symptomatic pregnant women at the Central Hospital in Yaounde, Cameroon.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The need to start treatment early for pregnant women who present with clinical features of malaria usually conflicts with the need to confirm diagnosis by microscopy (MP) before treatment, due to delays in obtaining results. Parasite sequestration in the placenta is also a problem. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDT), which detect soluble antigens, are a valuable alternative. The objective of this study was to evaluate pretreatment parasite prevalence by microscopy and by RDT and to assess the accuracy of RDT with MP as reference.

Methods

A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out at the obstetrical unit of the Central Hospital in Yaoundé, during the period January-August 2015. Consenting patients with symptoms of suspected malaria in pregnancy were recruited an

SUBMITTER: Ebong CE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8905860 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature