The Utility of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests as a Tool in Enhanced Surveillance for Malaria Elimination in Vanuatu.

<h4>Background</h4>As part of efforts to eliminate malaria, Vanuatu has piloted the implementation of enhanced malaria surveillance and response strategies since 2011. This involves passive case detection (PCD) in health facilities, proactive case detection (Pro-ACD) and reactive case de...

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Main Authors: Wesley Donald, Cielo Pasay, Jean-Olivier Guintran, Harry Iata, Karen Anderson, Johnny Nausien, Karryn J Gresty, Norman C Waters, Lasse S Vestergaard, George Taleo, Qin Cheng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0167136&type=printable
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author Wesley Donald
Cielo Pasay
Jean-Olivier Guintran
Harry Iata
Karen Anderson
Johnny Nausien
Karryn J Gresty
Norman C Waters
Lasse S Vestergaard
George Taleo
Qin Cheng
author_facet Wesley Donald
Cielo Pasay
Jean-Olivier Guintran
Harry Iata
Karen Anderson
Johnny Nausien
Karryn J Gresty
Norman C Waters
Lasse S Vestergaard
George Taleo
Qin Cheng
author_sort Wesley Donald
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>As part of efforts to eliminate malaria, Vanuatu has piloted the implementation of enhanced malaria surveillance and response strategies since 2011. This involves passive case detection (PCD) in health facilities, proactive case detection (Pro-ACD) and reactive case detection (Re-ACD) in communities using malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs). While RDTs improve case management, their utility for detection of malaria infections in ACDs in this setting is unclear.<h4>Methods</h4>The utility of malaria RDTs as diagnostic tools was evaluated in PCD, in five rounds of Pro-ACDs and five rounds of Re-ACDs conducted in Tafea and Torba Provinces between 2011 and 2014. The number of malaria infections detected by RDTs was compared to that detected by PCR from collected used-RDTs.<h4>Results</h4>PCD in Tafea Province (2013) showed a RDT-positive rate of 0.21% (2/939) and a PCR-positive rate of 0.44% (2/453), indicating less than 1% of suspected malaria cases in Tafea Province were due to malaria. In Pro-ACDs conducted in Tafea and Torba Provinces, RDT-positive rates in 2013 and 2014 were 0.14% (3/2145) and 0% (0/2823), respectively, while the corresponding PCR-positive rates were 0.72% (9/1242) and 0.79% (9/1141). PCR identified villages in both provinces appearing to be transmission foci with a small number of low-density infections, mainly P. falciparum infections. In five rounds of Re-ACD, RDTs did not identify any additional infections while PCR detected only one among 173 subjects screened.<h4>Conclusions</h4>PCD and Pro-ACDs demonstrate that both Tafea and Torba Provinces in Vanuatu has achieved very low malaria prevalence. In these low-transmission areas, conducting Pro-ACD and Re-ACDs using RDTs appears not cost-effective and may have limited impact on interrupting malaria transmission due to the small number of infections identified by RDTs and considerable operational resources invested. More sensitive, field deployable and affordable diagnostic tools will improve malaria surveillance in malaria elimination settings.
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spelling doaj-art-7a4d9ac63e174f81884fee4fcae2e00b2025-08-20T02:31:57ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-011111e016713610.1371/journal.pone.0167136The Utility of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests as a Tool in Enhanced Surveillance for Malaria Elimination in Vanuatu.Wesley DonaldCielo PasayJean-Olivier GuintranHarry IataKaren AndersonJohnny NausienKarryn J GrestyNorman C WatersLasse S VestergaardGeorge TaleoQin Cheng<h4>Background</h4>As part of efforts to eliminate malaria, Vanuatu has piloted the implementation of enhanced malaria surveillance and response strategies since 2011. This involves passive case detection (PCD) in health facilities, proactive case detection (Pro-ACD) and reactive case detection (Re-ACD) in communities using malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs). While RDTs improve case management, their utility for detection of malaria infections in ACDs in this setting is unclear.<h4>Methods</h4>The utility of malaria RDTs as diagnostic tools was evaluated in PCD, in five rounds of Pro-ACDs and five rounds of Re-ACDs conducted in Tafea and Torba Provinces between 2011 and 2014. The number of malaria infections detected by RDTs was compared to that detected by PCR from collected used-RDTs.<h4>Results</h4>PCD in Tafea Province (2013) showed a RDT-positive rate of 0.21% (2/939) and a PCR-positive rate of 0.44% (2/453), indicating less than 1% of suspected malaria cases in Tafea Province were due to malaria. In Pro-ACDs conducted in Tafea and Torba Provinces, RDT-positive rates in 2013 and 2014 were 0.14% (3/2145) and 0% (0/2823), respectively, while the corresponding PCR-positive rates were 0.72% (9/1242) and 0.79% (9/1141). PCR identified villages in both provinces appearing to be transmission foci with a small number of low-density infections, mainly P. falciparum infections. In five rounds of Re-ACD, RDTs did not identify any additional infections while PCR detected only one among 173 subjects screened.<h4>Conclusions</h4>PCD and Pro-ACDs demonstrate that both Tafea and Torba Provinces in Vanuatu has achieved very low malaria prevalence. In these low-transmission areas, conducting Pro-ACD and Re-ACDs using RDTs appears not cost-effective and may have limited impact on interrupting malaria transmission due to the small number of infections identified by RDTs and considerable operational resources invested. More sensitive, field deployable and affordable diagnostic tools will improve malaria surveillance in malaria elimination settings.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0167136&type=printable
spellingShingle Wesley Donald
Cielo Pasay
Jean-Olivier Guintran
Harry Iata
Karen Anderson
Johnny Nausien
Karryn J Gresty
Norman C Waters
Lasse S Vestergaard
George Taleo
Qin Cheng
The Utility of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests as a Tool in Enhanced Surveillance for Malaria Elimination in Vanuatu.
PLoS ONE
title The Utility of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests as a Tool in Enhanced Surveillance for Malaria Elimination in Vanuatu.
title_full The Utility of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests as a Tool in Enhanced Surveillance for Malaria Elimination in Vanuatu.
title_fullStr The Utility of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests as a Tool in Enhanced Surveillance for Malaria Elimination in Vanuatu.
title_full_unstemmed The Utility of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests as a Tool in Enhanced Surveillance for Malaria Elimination in Vanuatu.
title_short The Utility of Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests as a Tool in Enhanced Surveillance for Malaria Elimination in Vanuatu.
title_sort utility of malaria rapid diagnostic tests as a tool in enhanced surveillance for malaria elimination in vanuatu
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0167136&type=printable
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