Advances in Malarial Diagnosis

Malaria diagnosis is a huge challenge in developing countries where between 350-500 million
people are infected with the illness each year. It is estimated that Maleria kills up to 2 million
people each year, mainly children. Rapid detection and treatment make a huge impact on
survival rates- while there is no cure for Malaria, early intervention with anti-malarial
medications are highly effective and can often lead to a full recovery.

Since the 1880s when Malaria was first discovered, diagnosis has been preformed through
microscopic examination of the blood or through relying on the patient’s symptoms. Neither of
these methods are fool proof. Early symptoms of malaria which include fever, chills, sweats,
headaches, muscle pains, nausea, and vomiting could come from a variety of illnesses. Malaria
is often misdiagnosed and physicians end up either unnecessarily prescribing medication which
ultimately creates drug resistance or failing to identify malaria until it is already full blown
which can be fatal.

Today there are two other methods which are more effective. Nucleic acid amplification tests
(NAATs) can detect parasite DNA which is circulating in the blood and it is very sensitive.
Unfortunately, the equipment is expensive and requires specialized training. It is also
compromised by the fact that parasite DNA stays in the blood after the infection is gone which
can lead to a false positive.

Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) offer the best potential for malaria diagnosis in the field. RDT
have been developed to use a finger-stick or venous blood and can be done in 10-15 minutes.
They do not require a laboratory and are general more reliable. There is still considerable room
for human error but Diamed has developed a new handheld device using an Imaging Diagnostics
USB camera which collects and processes all the information in one self contained unit. This
portable device can be used by non-clinical staff with reliable results. RTDs identify parasite
specific antigens and come in two varieties, a pan-malarial test or a species specific test.

RDTs represent a major leap in malarial detection and in the coming years this will hopefully
lead to earlier diagnosis and better treatment.