Table 1.

Molecular diagnostic assays used in this study

Molecular assays	Target gene	Amplicon length (bp)	Target copies/parasite genome	LODa (parasite/µL)	References
P. falciparum qPCR
Pf_18S rRNA	18S rRNA genes	221	3	1.57	[2]
Pf_varATS	var genes	65	≥ 59	0.06–0.15	[11]
P. vivax qPCR
Pv_18S rRNA	18S rRNA gene	221	1	0.13–0.92	[2, 12]
Pv_mtCOX1	mtCOX1	148	> 20	0.01–0.023	[10, 12]

^aLOD for Pf_varATS qPCR determined by a serial dilution of the WHO International Standard (presented as parasites/µL whole blood, reconstituted using WHO international standard together with uninfected blood); LOD for Pv_mtCOX1 determined in two trendlines generated from LM-quantified field samples (presented as parasites/µL whole blood from field samples)