Evaluation of four rapid diagnostic tests for the diagnosis of Plasmodium vivax in Korea.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate 4 rapid malaria diagnostic kits (RDTs) in Korea: OptiMAL test, SD BIOLINE Malaria Ag P.f/Pan test, Humasis Malaria P.f/Pan antigen test and CareStart (TM) Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test. METHODS Hundred malaria patients with Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) and 100 healthy volunteers were recruited. The results from earlier four RDTs were compared with the reference standard, the Giemsa-stained traditional microscopic diagnosis. RESULTS Compared with the reference standard, the sensitivity and specificity for Plasmodium vivax were 92.7 and 100% for SD BIOLINE Malaria Ag P.f/Pan; and 94.6% and 100% for OptiMAL; 95.5% and 100% for both Humasis Malaria P.f/Pan antigen test and CareStart (TM) Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test. CONCLUSION The performances of all four malaria RDT kits were acceptable, although Humasis Malaria P.f/Pan antigen test and CareStartTM Malaria Pf/Pv Combo test gave superior performances with ROK isolates.