The co-reactivity of the Plasmodium histidine-rich protein 2 (HRP2) and lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH) in malaria rapid diagnosis tests (mRDTs) as a potential indicator of high parasitemia linked to Plasmodium falciparum was evaluated in the reported study from Cameroon. The samples were screened for malaria using both mRDTs (SD bioline HRP2/pLDH), light microscopy and further confirmed by Plasmodium species-specific PCR assay. Of the 483 patients enrolled, 161 (33.3%) showed a reactive mRDTs amongst which 70 patients were positive by both microscopy and mRDTs with 30.0% (21/70) positive for HRP2 alone, while 70.0% (49/70) showed a dual reaction to HRP2 and pLDH parasite antigens. P. falciparum parasitemia was found to be significantly high among patients with both reactive antigens, (p < 0.0001) suggesting that mRDTs reactivity is influenced by parasite load which could be used as a diagnostic marker for therapeutic management of patients with high parasitemia in field conditions.
Keywords: Plasmodium falciparum; SD bioline mRDTs; antigens- HRP2/pLDH; malaria.