Diagnosis efficiency of urine malaria test kit for the diagnosis of malaria for febrile patients in Gombe, Nigeria

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic efficiencies of urine malaria test kit with microscopy as the gold standard in detecting Plasmodium falciparum HRP-2, a poly-histidine antigen in urine of febrile patients. The study was conducted in a primary and secondary health institution in Gombe Town, Gombe State, north-east Nigeria. Participants were enrolled based on presentation with fever (≥ 37.5oC), blood samples were collected by phlebotomy. Thick and thin blood films were prepared, stained and examined for malaria parasite following standard procedures. These were then examined under the microscope using the oil immersion objective while urine samples were collected in urine sample bottles, labeled and immediately tested using specially designed urine RDTs (urine malaria test kits). With the blood smear microscopy as standard, the disease prevalence was 67.3% and sensitivity for the UMT was 65.0% respectively. The UMT had a specificity of 90.7% as well as positive and negative predictive values were 93.5% and 55.6% respectively.The rapid diagnostic kits showed moderate level of sensitivity compared with blood smear microscopy as they showed considerable acceptable levels in the diagnosis of malaria.

Keywords: Diagnostic kit; Plasmodium falciparum; prevalence; microscopy; urine