TY - JOUR
T1 - Sensitive near point-of-care detection of asymptomatic and submicroscopic Plasmodium falciparum infections in African endemic countries
AU - NIHR Global Health Research Group on Digital Diagnostics for African Health Systems
AU - Rakotomalala Robinson, Dimbintsoa
AU - Pennisi, Ivana
AU - Cavuto, Matthew L.
AU - Kiemde, Francois
AU - Chamai, Martin
AU - Some, Diane Yirgnur
AU - Quigley, Elliot
AU - Malpartida-Cardenas, Kenny
AU - Ndiath, Mamadou O.
AU - Correa, Simon
AU - Darboe, Bubacarr
AU - Stewart, Lindsay B.
AU - Georgiou, Pantelis
AU - Baldeh, Mamadu
AU - Tinto, Halidou
AU - Cunnington, Aubrey J.
AU - Erhart, Annette
AU - D’Alessandro, Umberto
AU - Rodriguez-Manzano, Jesus
AU - Sserwanga, Asadu
AU - Yeung, Shunmay
AU - Yawson, Alfred E.
AU - Usuf, Effua
AU - Bawah, Faiza U.
AU - Sans, Maria Suau
AU - Sifuna, Anthony W.
AU - Porat, Talya
AU - Piffer, Francesca M.
AU - Omer, Abubakr
AU - Okell, Lucy C.
AU - Ofosuhemaa, Patience
AU - Odoyo, Erick
AU - Mwanza, Sydney
AU - Moser, Nicolas
AU - Molemodile Dele-Olowu, Shola K.
AU - Mohamed, Abdelrahim O.
AU - Manyando, Christine
AU - Levin, Michael
AU - Laryea, Dennis O.
AU - Kaforou, Myrsini
AU - Bawa, Flavia K.
AU - Kabuya, Jean Bertin
AU - Waleed, Waleed M.
AU - Herberg, Jethro A.
AU - Abdel Hamid, Muzamil M.
AU - Duodu, Samuel
AU - Awandare, Gordon A.
AU - Udofia, Emilia A.
AU - Amoah, Linda E.
AU - Abdulai, Jamal Deen
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2025.
PY - 2025/12
Y1 - 2025/12
N2 - Limited diagnostic capacity for detecting asymptomatic malaria infections with low parasite densities hinders elimination efforts in Africa. Here, we adapt a near point-of-care, LAMP-based diagnostic platform for malaria diagnosis using capillary blood. This Pan/Pf detection method meets the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) criteria for community-level screening, with a limit of detection of 0.6 parasites/μL and a sample-to-result time under 45 minutes. We evaluate its performance on 672 capillary blood samples collected at the community level in The Gambia and Burkina Faso, including 146 Plasmodium falciparum positives confirmed by qPCR. The diagnostic platform achieved 95.2% sensitivity (95% CI: 90.4–98.1) and 96.8% specificity (95% CI: 94.9–98.0). It also detected 94.9% (130/137) of asymptomatic infections and 95.3% (41/43) of submicroscopic cases (<16 parasites/μL), outperforming expert microscopy (70.1% and 0%) and rapid diagnostic tests (49.6% and 4.7%). This field-deployable molecular diagnostic method offers a sensitive, scalable solution to support test-and-treat strategies for malaria elimination across Africa.
AB - Limited diagnostic capacity for detecting asymptomatic malaria infections with low parasite densities hinders elimination efforts in Africa. Here, we adapt a near point-of-care, LAMP-based diagnostic platform for malaria diagnosis using capillary blood. This Pan/Pf detection method meets the Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) criteria for community-level screening, with a limit of detection of 0.6 parasites/μL and a sample-to-result time under 45 minutes. We evaluate its performance on 672 capillary blood samples collected at the community level in The Gambia and Burkina Faso, including 146 Plasmodium falciparum positives confirmed by qPCR. The diagnostic platform achieved 95.2% sensitivity (95% CI: 90.4–98.1) and 96.8% specificity (95% CI: 94.9–98.0). It also detected 94.9% (130/137) of asymptomatic infections and 95.3% (41/43) of submicroscopic cases (<16 parasites/μL), outperforming expert microscopy (70.1% and 0%) and rapid diagnostic tests (49.6% and 4.7%). This field-deployable molecular diagnostic method offers a sensitive, scalable solution to support test-and-treat strategies for malaria elimination across Africa.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105018398088
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-025-64027-4
DO - 10.1038/s41467-025-64027-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 41073377
AN - SCOPUS:105018398088
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 16
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 8925
ER -
SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being