TABLE 3.
Detection of malaria parasites by various methods
| Malaria-causing speciesa | Organism(s) detected by each method (no. of samples)
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microscopy | Real-time PCR | Nested PCR | Genomic sequence analysisb | |
| P. falciparum | P. falciparum (43) | P. falciparum (41) | P. falciparum (41) | P. falciparum (41) |
| P. ovale (1) | P. ovale (1) | P. ovale (1) | ||
| P. falciparum + P. ovale (1) | P. falciparum + P. ovale (1) | P. falciparum + P. ovale (1) | ||
| Non-P. falciparum | P. falciparum or P. vivax (1) | P. ovale (1) | P. ovale (1) | P. ovale (1) |
| Plasmodium spp. (1) | P. falciparum + P. ovale (1) | P. falciparum + P. ovale + P. malariae (1) | P. falciparum + P. ovalec (1) | |
| P. vivax (11) | P. vivax (7) | P. vivax (7) | P. vivax (7) | |
| P. ovale (4) | P. ovale (4) | P. ovale (4) | ||
| P. malariae (2) | Negative (2) | P. malariae (2) | P. malariaed (2) | |
| P. ovale (3) | P. ovale (2) | P. ovale (2) | P. ovale (2) | |
| P. vivax (1) | P. vivax (1) | P. vivax (1) | ||
| Negative | Negative (61) | P. falciparum (1) | P. falciparum (1) | P. falciparum (1) |
| Negative (60) | Negative (60) | Negative (60) | ||
| Total | 122 | 122 | 122 | 122 |
a
Malaria species are classified according to the diagnosis obtained from the blood slide examination.
b
Sequences were obtained for all the PCR products resulting from both amplification methods, except for the two P. malariae-positive samples. The sequences were the same in all cases and confirmed the species diagnosis.
c
Genomic sequence analysis was not carried out.
d
Genomic sequence analysis was only performed for the nested PCR amplification product.