Comparative Study of Thick Smear, Thin Smear, QBC and Antigen Card Test in Diagnosis of Malaria

Rapid diagnosis is pre-requisite for institution of effective treatment and reducing mortality and morbidity of malaria. T he study was taken up to compare the efficiency of various methods available , i.e. thick and thin smear, Quantitative Buffy Coat (QBC) and Antigen card test (Parascreen). In the present study, thick smear was compared with thin sQBC and Antigen card test for the diagnosis of malaria. A total of 406 samples were collected from patients presenting with classic symptoms of m alaria. For traditional microscopy; thick and thin smear were prepared and stained with Leishman's stain, taking thick smear as a gold standard. QBC a nd Antigen detection were done using commercially available kits. Malaria was diagnosed in 112, 81, 98 and 110 patient by thick smear, thin smear, QBC and antigen card test respectively. In antigen card test the sensitivity 98.2%, specificity 100%, Positive predictive value (PPV) 100% and Negative pvalue (NPV) 99.3% were observed. Although the antigen card test is superior than thin smear and QBC. Antigen card test has its advantages in terms of speed, sensitivity and specificity especially in an endemi c area. Therefore we recommended antigen card test which was simple, rel iable and effective for the diagnosis of malaria in remote and rural areas of o ur country.

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