ArticlePloS one2016
Performance of Microscopy for the Diagnosis of Malaria and Human African Trypanosomiasis by Diagnostic Laboratories in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Results of a Nation-Wide External Quality Assessment.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
- Evaluation of Malaria Microscopy Diagnostic Performance at 40 Public Health Facilities in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire in 2020.Acta parasitologica · 2024Article
- Unravelling the quality of malaria microscopy across Kinshasa, DR Congo.MalariaWorld journal · 2024Article
- Comparative performance evaluation of blood film microscopy for the diagnosis of bovine trypanosomosis by some laboratories in North-central Nigeria.Open veterinary journal · 2023Article
- Healthcare Management of Human African Trypanosomiasis Cases in the Eastern, Muchinga and Lusaka Provinces of Zambia.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2022Article
- Membrane Technology for Rapid Point-of-Care Diagnostics for Parasitic Neglected Tropical Diseases.Clinical microbiology reviews · 2021Article
- Assessment of the accuracy of malaria microscopy in private health facilities in Entebbe Municipality, Uganda: a cross-sectional study.Malaria journal · 2021Article
- [External Quality Assessment of Thick and Thin Blood Smear Slides for the Diagnosis of Malaria in the Lomé and Gulf Health Districts of Togo].Medecine tropicale et sante internationale · 2021Article
- Diagnostic Methods for Non-Falciparum Malaria.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2021Review
- Analysis of initial laboratory diagnosis of malaria and its accuracy compared with re-testing from 2013 to 2018 in Yunnan Province, China.Malaria journal · 2020Article
- Molecular quantification of Plasmodium parasite density from the blood retained in used RDTs.Scientific reports · 2019Article
- High-quality health systems in the Sustainable Development Goals era: time for a revolution.The Lancet. Global health · 2018Review
- Innovative digital technologies for quality assurance of diagnosis of human African trypanosomiasis.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2018Article
- Discovery of a quinoline-based phenyl sulfone derivative as an antitrypanosomal agent.Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry letters · 2018Article
- Quality control of malaria microscopy reveals misdiagnosed non-falciparum species and other microscopically detectable pathogens in Senegal.Annals of clinical microbiology and antimicrobials · 2018Article
- Article
- External quality assessment in resource-limited countries.Biochemia medica · 2017Article
- Performance of Laboratory Professionals Working on Malaria Microscopy in Tigray, North Ethiopia.Journal of parasitology research · 2017Article
- Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The present External Quality Assessment (EQA) assessed microscopy of blood parasites among diagnostic laboratories in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The EQA addressed 445 participants in 10/11 provinces (October 2013-April 2014). Participants were sent a panel of five slides and asked to return a routinely stained slide which was assessed for quality of preparation and staining. Response rate was 89.9% (400/445). For slide 1 (no parasites), 30.6% participants reported malaria, mostly Plasmodium falciparum. Only 11.0% participants reported slide 2 (Plasmodium malariae) correctly, 71.0% reported "malaria" or "Plasmodium falciparum" (considered acceptable). Slide 3 contained Plasmodium falciparum (109/μl) and Trypanosoma brucei brucei trypomastigotes: they were each reported by 32.5% and 16.5% participants respectively, 6.0% reported both. Slide 4 (Trypanosoma) was recognised by 44.9% participants. Slide 5 (Plasmodium ovale) was correctly reported by 6.2% participants, another 68.8% replied "malaria" or "Plasmodium falciparum" (considered acceptable). Only 13.6% of routine slides returned were correctly prepared and stained. The proportion of correct/acceptable scores for at least 4/5 slides was higher among EQA-experienced participants compared to first time participants (40.9% versus 22.4%, p = 0.001) and higher among those being trained < 2 years ago compared to those who were not (42.9% versus 26.3%, p = 0.01). Among diagnostic laboratories in Democratic Republic of the Congo, performance of blood parasite microscopy including non-falciparum species and Trypanosoma was poor. Recent training and previous EQA participation were associated with a better performance.
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