ArticleMalaria journal2023
Malaria misdiagnosis in the routine health system in Arba Minch area district in southwest Ethiopia: an implication for malaria control and elimination.
Article in Malaria journal, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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10 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Point of care performance of the improved BIOCREDIT Ag Pf/Pv (pLDH/pLDH) rapid diagnostic test: a cross-sectional study at a health center setting in Ethiopia.Malaria journal · 2026Article
- Diagnostic gaps in light microscopy for malaria case management and control in Dilla Zuria Health Facility, southern Ethiopia.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Unveiling the overlooked burden of malaria misdiagnosis using lamp-based re-evaluation of routine malaria diagnosis in health centers: implications for public health and clinical practice in Northwest Ethiopia.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Microscopy underestimates submicroscopic malaria infections in Ethiopia's southern rift valley: a community-based cross-sectional study.Malaria journal · 2026Article
- A comparison of the cost-effectiveness of the current standard of care and of the haematology analyser XN31-microscopy combination for diagnosing malaria in a nonendemic country.Memorias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz · 2026Article
- Integrating parallelCommunications health · 2026Article
- Preliminary analysis of the conserved Plasmodium falciparum k13 gene in Arbaminch and Mirab Abaya, Ethiopia.Malaria journal · 2025Article
- Autofluorescence of Red Blood Cells Infected withBiosensors · 2025Article
- Assessing the influence of rapid diagnostic test (RDT) accuracy on malaria misdiagnosis and antimalarial resistance in Nigeria.Annals of medicine and surgery (2012) · 2025Review
- A digital microscope for the diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, including P. falciparum with hrp2/hrp3 deletion.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
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9 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
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Abstract
backgroundPlasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax are coendemic in Ethiopia, with different proportion in different settings. Microscopy is the diagnostic tool in Ethiopian health centres. Accurate species-specific diagnosis is vital for appropriate treatment of cases to interrupt its transmission. Therefore, this study assessed the status of species-specific misdiagnosis by microscope compared with polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
methodsA health facility based cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2019 to January 2020 in Kolla Shelle Health centre, Arba Minch Zuria district. The study population were suspected malaria cases, who visited the health centre for a diagnosis and treatment. Consecutive microscopy positive cases as well as a sample of microscopically negative cases were included for molecular analysis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
results254 microscopically negative and 193 microscopically positive malaria suspects were included. Of the 193 malaria positive cases, 46.1% [95% confidence interval (CI) 38.9-53.4] (89/193) were P. falciparum infection, 52.3% (95% CI 45.0-59.5) (101/193) were P. vivax infection, and 1.6% (3/193) had mixed infection of P. falciparum and P. vivax. Of the microscopically positive cases of P. falciparum, 3.4% (3/89) were P. vivax and 11.2% (10/89) were mixed infections with P. falciparum and P. vivax and a single case was negative molecularly. Similarly, of the microscopically positive P. vivax cases, 5.9% (6/101) were P. falciparum and 1% (1/101) was mixed infection. Single case was negative by molecular technique. Of the 254 microscopically negative cases, 0.8% were tested positive for P. falciparum and 2% for P. vivax by PCR. Considering molecular technique as a reference, the sensitivity of microscopy for detecting P. falciparum was 89.2% and for P. vivax, it was 91.2%. The specificity of microscopy for detecting P. falciparum was 96.1% and for P. vivax, it was 97.7%. However, the sensitivity of microscopy in detecting mixed infection of P. falciparum and P. vivax was low (8.3%).
conclusionThere were cases left untreated or inappropriately treated due to the species misidentification. Therefore, to minimize this problem, the gaps in the microscopic-based malaria diagnosis should be identified. It is recommended to regularly monitor the competency of malaria microscopists in the study area to improve species identification and diagnosis accuracy.
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