Table 1 Comparison of microscopy with rapid diagnostic tests.

	Microscopy	Rapid diagnostic test
Time required to carry out	Approximately 1 h	Less than 30 minutes
Training required	Extensive	Relatively little
Sensitivity	50 parasites/μl if skilled microscopist	>90% v blood film if >100 Pfalciparum parasites per μl
Specificity	Operator dependent	Some false positives
		Specificity ranges from 92% to 95% for Pfalciparum
Detects Pfalciparum	Yes	Yes
Differentiates sexual stages (gametocytes) from asexual stages	Yes	No
Differentiates P falciparum from non‐falciparum parasites	Yes	Partially, cannot speciate non‐falciparum parasites