Abstract:
Malaria is a serious public health problem, this study was aimed at comparing Microscopy and Rapid Diagnostics test in malaria parasite detection in patients in some hospitals in Sokoto, Nigeria. Blood Samples were collected by venipuncture and dispensed into EDTA bottle. Thick blood films were made by adding few drops of anticoagulated blood on a clean glass slides and emulsifying to coin size using a spreader and allowed to air-dry and stained with 10% Geimsa stain for 10 minutes, allowed to air-dry and examined using ×100 objective to confirm the presence of malaria parasites. Of the 100 patients screened, 37% and 24% were positive for malaria using Carestart and SD-Bioline, while 53% were malaria positive by microscopy. Prevalence of malaria parasite by sex was 53.6% and 52.3% in females and males. Malaria prevalence by age was highest among patients aged 11-20, while the lowest prevalence was observed in patients aged 51-60 years. Based on occupation, the prevalence of malaria was highest among unemployed patients 58.5%, followed by 22.6% prevalence of malaria among business men and women. No significant difference was observed in malaria infection by sex, age and occupations P<0.05. The sensitivity and specificity of Carestart and SD-Bioline screening kits were 54.7% and 82.6%, 34.6 and 87.2%. The predictive positive value of Carestart was 78.4% while its negative predictive value was 61.3% in contrast to SD-Bioline with 75% and 54.7% as the positive predictive value and negative predictive value. Rapid diagnostic test are suitable alternatives to microscopy particularly in resources limited rural areas
