Preventive Measures and Diagnosis of Asymptomatic Malaria in Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Asymptomatic malaria poses a huge challenge in meeting the malaria, elimination goal. Due to the poor sensitivity of the common laboratory diagnostic methods of malaria like rapid diagnosis tests (RDTs) and Giemsa stained microscopy, it has often been difficult to detect asymptomatic malaria. Thus, highly sensitive, specific, and field deployable rapid molecular techniques need to be available to accurately detect the disease. This study aimed to assess the application of malaria preventive methods and to assess the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria, using the traditional Giemsa microscopy and molecular methods, such as loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and nested PCR in the study sites.