Objective: To evaluate 4 rapid malaria diagnostic kits (RDTs) in Korea: OptiMAL test, SD BIOLINE Malaria Ag P.f/Pan test, Humasis Malaria P.f/Pan antigen test and CareStart Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test.
Methods: Hundred malaria patients with Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) and 100 healthy volunteers were recruited. The results from earlier four RDTs were compared with the reference standard, the Giemsa-stained traditional microscopic diagnosis.
Results: Compared with the reference standard, the sensitivity and specificity for Plasmodium vivax were 92.7 and 100% for SD BIOLINE Malaria Ag P.f/Pan; and 94.6% and 100% for OptiMAL; 95.5% and 100% for both Humasis Malaria P.f/Pan antigen test and CareStart Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test.
Conclusion: The performances of all four malaria RDT kits were acceptable, although Humasis Malaria P.f/Pan antigen test and CareStart Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test gave superior performances with ROK isolates.
© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.