New blood test fights malaria infections
Swedish scientists say they have demonstrated a rapid diagnostic malaria test can provide valuable support for healthcare in low- and mid-income countries.
The procedure is based on a simple blood test and, the researchers say, helps ensure a greater number of patients receive the right treatment at no extra cost for the healthcare services.
Since the existing test methods are too complicated and expensive for most primary healthcare clinics in Africa, people are prescribed malaria treatment based on presence of fever only,
said Professor Anders Bjorkman, who led the study at the Karolinska Institute's research center in Zanzibar, Tanzania. With an improved diagnostic tool, treatment can be targeted to patients with confirmed malaria infection.
The scientists said the Malaria RDT is a relatively new diagnostic method that measures the presence of a protein produced by the malaria parasite (Plasmodium falciparum) in a sample of blood taken from a finger. The test requires no advanced laboratory equipment or training and is already in clinical use.
The study by Bjorkman and colleagues -- the first broad-front evaluation of the test in clinical operation -- appears in the journal PLoS Medicine.
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