Evaluation of a rapid diagnostic test for assessing the burden of malaria at delivery in India

All pregnant women who came for delivery at a district hospital in Mandla and a civil hospital in Maihar were screened for Plasmodium falciparum (placental parasitemia using a rapid test and microscopy and peripheral and umbilical cord parasitemia using microscopy alone). Two rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), Paracheck Pf and ParaHITf, were used. At Mandla, the sensitivity and specificity of the Paracheck Pf for P. falciparum were 93% and 84%, respectively. The positive predictive values (PPVs) and negative predictive values (NPVs) were 50% and 99%, respectively. At Maihar, the sensitivity and specificity of the ParaHITf for P. falciparum were 87.5% and 97%, respectively. The PPVs and NPVs were 75.4% and 98.7%, respectively. Placental infection was significantly associated with low birth weight. The RDTs for the identification of P. falciparum were more sensitive in placental blood than the placental blood smear by microscopy. Thus, the RDTs should be useful for rapid assessment of malaria at delivery.