Comparative study of intradermal smear microscopy in the diagnosis of malaria in symptomatic pregnant women.

OBJECTIVES A comparative study of intradermal smear in the diagnosis of malaria in symptomatic pregnant women. Venous blood served as the control. PATIENTS AND METHODS Fifty consecutive symptomatic pregnant women were recruited. Thick films of both venous and intradermal blood were examined. Questionnaires were used to determine patients' preference for the two techniques. Tests of statistical significance were done with Fisher exact and Yates correlation coefficient at 95% confidence interval. Sensitivity specificity and accuracy rates were used to assess the validity of intradermal smear. RESULTS Intradermal smear more frequently diagnosed malaria parasitaemia than peripheral venous blood (66% vs 56%). This was statistically significant (P value: 0.0065). The sensitivity of intradermal smear was 85.7% while the positive predictive value was 77.4%. The accuracy rate was 76.7%. The technique of intradermal blood collection was preferred by 28% of women. CONCLUSION Intradermal smear is useful in malaria diagnosis in pregnancy and may be an additional evaluation tool for persistent fever in pregnancy.