ABSTRACT

Aim: To find the diagnostic accuracy of Malarial antibody ELISA and RDT (rapid diagnostic test) for detection of malarial parasite in healthy blood donors, by taking blood film microscopy as reference standard

Study design: Retrospective Cross-sectional analytical study

Methodology: One thousand, three hundred and twenty-seven (1327) samples from eligible blood donors presenting in blood bank of Shaikh Zayed Hospital Lahore, Pakistan, fulfilling the inclusion criteria were evaluated in the study. We compared diagnostic accuracy (sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value & negative predictive value) of Antibody ELISA and RDT with Blood Fil Microscopy as reference standard.

Results: Total 1327 no. donors were tested. The sensitivity and specificity of Antibody ELISA is 46.15% & 82.88% respectively, while the sensitivity and specificity of RDT is 84.62% and 99.92% respectively.

Conclusion: As malaria is disease to be tested in blood donors according to WHO guidelines, it is very important to establish a proper technique for it and in our study, it is concluded that RDT is more accurate than Antibody ELISA for the detection of malaria in potential blood donors.

Keywords: Malaria, Antibody ELISA, RDT(Rapid Diagnostic test), Blood Donors, Blood Film Microscopy