Affiliations 

  • 1 Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
  • 2 Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia
  • 3 National Public Health Reference Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Mogadishu, Somalia
  • 4 University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, NHS Trust, Coventry, United Kingdom
  • 5 National Institute for Medical Research, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
  • 6 Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia
Am J Trop Med Hyg, 2020 08;103(2):558-560.
PMID: 32553046 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0467

Abstract

Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) play a critical role in malaria diagnosis and control. The emergence of Plasmodium falciparum parasites that can evade detection by RDTs threatens control and elimination efforts. These parasites lack or have altered genes encoding histidine-rich proteins (HRPs) 2 and 3, the antigens recognized by HRP2-based RDTs. Surveillance of such parasites is dependent on identifying false-negative RDT results among suspected malaria cases, a task made more challenging during the current pandemic because of the overlap of symptoms between malaria and COVID-19, particularly in areas of low malaria transmission. Here, we share our perspective on the emergence of P. falciparum parasites lacking HRP2 and HRP3, and the surveillance needed to identify them amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.