TABLE 3.
Detailed comparison of microscopy, two nested PCRs, and real-time PCR for malaria parasite detection and species identification
| Species identification (no. of samples) by microscopy | Species identificationa (no. of samples) by: |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nested PCR-1 | Nested PCR-2 | Real-time PCR | ||
| P. falciparum | 5 | Pf (5), Pf+Pv (0) | Pf (3), Pf+Pv (2) | Pf (3), Pf+Pv (2) |
| P. vivax | 10 | Pv (7), Pv+Pf (0), Pv+Pm (1), Pv+Pf+Pm (0), negative (2) | Pv (3), Pv+Pf (5), Pv+Pm (0), Pv+Pf+Pm (1), negative (1) | Pv (5), Pv+Pf (3), Pv+Pm (0), Pv+Pf+Pm (1), negative (1) |
| Negative | 1,537 | Negative (1,511), Pf (8), Pf+Pv (1), Pf +Pm (1), Pf+Pv+Pm (0), Pv (13), Pv+Pm (1), Pv+Po (1), Pf +Pv+Po (0), Pm (1) | Negative (1,498), Pf (10), Pf+Pv (20), Pf +Pm (0), Pf+Pv+Pm (2), Pv (5), Pv+Pm (0), Pv+Po (0), Pf +Pv+Po (1), Pm (1) | Negative (1,498), Pf (12), Pf+Pv (17), Pf +Pm (1), Pf+Pv+Pm (1), Pv (7), Pv+Pm (0), Pv+Po (0), Pf +Pv+Po (0), Pm (1) |
| Positive (n [%]) | 15 (1%) | 39 (2.5%) | 53 (3.4%) | 53 (3.4%) |
| Total | 1,552 | 1,552 | 1,552 | 1,552 |
a
Pf, Plasmodium falciparum; Pv, Plasmodium vivax; Pm, Plasmodium malariae; Po, Plasmodium ovale.