Diagnosis of Malaria Infection using Three Diagnostic Techniques in Diary Villages Khartoum North State during the Period October 2015-Febrory 2016

Background: Laboratory diagnosis of malaria is currently recommended for the confirmation of the disease before management. The two most common techniques in use for the diagnosis of malaria parasite in Sudan are Giemsa stained smears and Rapid diagnostic tests(RDTs). This study was carried out to compare microscopy ( Giemsa and Acridine orange stain ) and RDTs as effective tools for the diagnosis of malaria among individuals with clinical symptoms attending local primary health care center. Methods: Traditional Giemsa stained thick blood films were compared with Acridine orange fluorescence’s techniques and RDTs for the diagnosis of malaria in blood smears collected from symptomatic individual in new malaria area of Diary villages of Khartoum North state, Southern Khartoum Sudan. The information of clinical symptoms were collected by the clinician using structured questionnaire. A total of 432 subjects were examined between the period of October 2015-Febrory 2016. Results: Prevalence rate of malaria infection was not significantly different between sex (P = 0.06). The overall positive cases were found to be 328(75.9%) out of 432. The commonly affected age group was found among children aged 1-10 years old 164 (38%). The study also revealed predominance of Plasmodium falciparum malaria 227(73.9%) among all the positive cases of malaria. Performance of the three techniques Giemsa stain, Acridine orange stain and RDTs showed positive rate 139(42.9%), 266(81.1%) and 306(93.6%) respectively. Conclusions: The study concluded that P. falciparum is the commonest species in the area. The acridine orange diagnostic technique is a valuable alternative method that can be used specially in well equipped laboratories. Rapid diagnostic tests alone can’t replace Giemsa stain technique but when used with other techniques can be with better value.