Abstract

The study was aimed at comparing rapid diagnostic test kits (RDTs) and microscopy in detecting sequestered placental malaria or deep tissue malaria from pregnant women and the clinical benefits that can be derived. About 300 pregnant women were enrolled in the study. Five (5) ml of venous and placental blood was collected into an ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) tube, respectively. The blood samples were tested for malaria using microscopy and parascreen (RDTs). The hemoglobin (Hb) concentration was estimated by Hb color scale method. Out of the 300 enrolled, a total of 250 (82.5%) were positive with microscopy while the RDTs detected 300 (100%). Comparing the sensitivity, RDTs had 100% while microscopy had 88.3% and both had 100% specificity. Comparing the age group with frequency of infection, the 21 to 25 years age groups were the most vulnerable with 134 (45.54%). With parity, secundgravidae (1+1) had the highest with 104 (34.32%) and ≥ 4 parity had the least with 50 (16 50%). Those with Hb values ≤ 9 g/dl had the highest incidence with 245 (80.85%), 10 to 11.4 g/dl had 51 (16.86%) while ≥ 11.5 g/dl had the least with 4 (1.32%). About 16.5% were RDTs positive which might have been lost if only microscopy was done.

Key words: Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), microscopy, pregnancy, anaemia, parity, sequestration.