Abstract:
Background: - Malaria is leading public health problem in the world especially in sub-
Saharan African countries including Ethiopia. Early and accurate diagnosis followed by
prompt and effective treatment is main strategy for prevention and control of malaria. Despite
to this, current diagnostic methods such as Giemsa microscopy and rapid diagnostic tests
could not produce reliable results. Hence, highly sensitive, specific and rapid molecular
method of diagnosis is urgently needed.
Objective: - To compare the performance of LAMP with Giemsa microscopy for the
diagnosis of malaria at Kola Diba Health Center, Northwest Ethiopia from March 2014 to
May 2014.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted to evaluate LAMP performance with
Giemsa microscopy in diagnosing malaria. Blood samples were collected from 200
consequently recruited malaria suspected study participants and examined for Plasmodium
parasites using Giemsa microscopy. Fifty two malaria slide negative and thirty malaria slide
positive individuals were included in LAMP evaluation study. Data was analyzed by SPSS
version 20 and MedCalc online software. Primary outcome measures for diagnostic accuracy
(sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value and Kappa value) of LAMP were computed and
compared with Giemsa microscopy.
Results: - Among 82 samples analyzed for LAMP assay, 38 samples were tested positive for
genus plasmodium parasite and 26 were tested positive for P. falciparum parasite. Using
Giemsa microscopy as reference method the sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative
predictive values of LAMP assay were 100%, and 84.62%, 78.95% and 100%, respectively,
for the Plasmodium genus primers. The LAMP result was also in very good agreement (κ =
0.91) with Giemsa microscopy for Plasmodium parasite detection. For P. falciparum primers,
LAMP assay showed sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 81.16%, respectively with
moderate agreement (κ = 0.577) for diagnosis of P. falciparum parasite.
Conclusion: - The result of this study signifies that LAMP assay can be used as an
alternative method for the diagnosis of malaria in control and elimination strategies in
endemic areas. However, further onsite performance evaluation studies should be done in
different settings to supplement this finding before implementing LAMP as malaria
diagnostic method in Ethiopia.
