No evidence of false-negative Plasmodium falciparum rapid diagnostic results in Monrovia, Liberia

• Published in: Malaria Journal
• Main Authors: Mandella King, Alexander E. George, Pau Cisteró, Christine K. Tarr-Attia, Beatriz Arregui, Senga Omeonga, Haily Chen, Ana Meyer García-Sípido, Adelaida Sarukhan, Quique Bassat, Dawoh Peter Lansana, Alfredo Mayor
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2021
• Subjects: Malaria; Liberia; Diagnostics; Microscopy; Rapid diagnostic tests; pfhrp2 deletion; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Infectious and parasitic diseases; RC109-216; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12936-021-03774-3; https://doaj.org/article/30efedcf722142459208737fdc7d472d

Abstract Background Malaria diagnosis in many malaria-endemic countries relies mainly on the use of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs). The majority of commercial RDTs used in Africa detect the Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich protein 2 (PfHRP2). pfhrp2/3 gene deletions can therefore lead to false-negative RDT results. This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of PCR-confirmed, false-negative P. falciparum RDT results in Monrovia, Liberia. Methods PfHRP2-based RDT (Paracheck Pf®) and microscopy results from 1038 individuals with fever or history of fever (n = 951) and pregnant women at first antenatal care (ANC) visit (n = 87) enrolled in the Saint Joseph’s Catholic Hospital (Monrovia) from March to July 2019 were used to assess the frequency of false-negative RDT results. True–false negatives were confirmed by detecting the presence of P. falciparum DNA by quantitative PCR in samples from individuals with discrepant RDT and microscopy results. Samples that were positive by 18S rRNA qPCR but negative by PfHRP2-RDT were subjected to multiplex qPCR assay for detection of pfhrp2 and pfhrp3. Results One-hundred and eighty-six (19.6%) and 200 (21.0%) of the 951 febrile participants had a P. falciparum-positive result by RDT and microscopy, respectively. Positivity rate increased with age and the reporting of joint pain, chills and shivers, vomiting and weakness, and decreased with the presence of coughs and nausea. The positivity rate at first ANC visit was 5.7% (n = 5) and 8% (n = 7) by RDT and microscopy, respectively. Out of 207 Plasmodium infections detected by microscopy, 22 (11%) were negative by RDT. qPCR confirmed absence of P. falciparum DNA in the 16 RDT-negative but microscopy-positive samples which were available for molecular testing. Among the 14 samples that were positive by qPCR but negative by RDT and microscopy, 3 only amplified pfldh, and among these 3 all were positive for pfhrp2 and pfhrp3. Conclusion There is no qPCR-confirmed evidence of false-negative RDT results due to pfhrp2/pfhrp3 deletions ...