Laboratory diagnosis methods of malaria infection

Background and Aim: To manage and control malaria - one of the most important infectious diseases in tropical and subtropical regions – a quick and accurate malaria diagnosis method is necessary as a high priority. For this purpose, several methods have been developed for the diagnosis of malaria, and currently, the examining the peripheral blood slide with an optical microscope as a gold standard method as well as rapid diagnosis method are used in malaria endemic areas. This article reviews the existing methods and the possible future options to improve the diagnosis of malaria. Methods: To prepare the present review article, English language articles with no limitation in publication date were reviewed, by searching keywords including malaria diagnosis, microscopic and molecular methods, RDT, Nested-PCR and LAMP in PubMed and Google Scholar databases. Among collected articles, the most relevant research articles related to the topic of this article were selected and reviewed. Conclusion: Direct observation of peripheral blood smears with a light microscope, despite its limitations, is still considered the gold standard method for malaria diagnosis. The another malaria diagnosis method is rapid diagnostic test (RDT), which, due to their characteristics, are a quick and cheap alternative for malaria diagnosis in endemic areas. Regarding malaria elimination programs, the diagnosis of the Plasmodium in individuals without symptoms of malaria is challenging as they are generally not detected by routine methods such as peripheral blood smear and rapid diagnostic tests. For this reason, molecular methods are suitable for use in endemic areas under elimination. Novel techniques that are beneficial in malaria research can be replaced with the usual diagnostic methods in the future.