Malaria Diagnostic Platform, Microscopy

Synonyms

Malaria diagnosis by traditional microscopy; Malaria light microscopy; Traditional microscopy for malaria

Definition

Traditional microscopy is an examination of a specimen of blood, usually capillary blood made in the form of a thick film and stained usually by Giemsa stain, under high-power light microscope.

Introduction

By now, the array of different laboratory methods available for malaria diagnosis has greatly increased. However, expert light microscopy, the oldest method, is still considered the main method and reference standard in clinical and epidemiological practice.

A great deal of guides for microscopic diagnosis of malaria have been published at the international (e.g., WHO 1999, 2009, 2010a, b) and national levels (e.g., Garcia 2010; Bailey et al. 2013, to name the few).

In terms of sensitivity, quality light microscopy is superior to all other methods in routine use except polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (q.v.) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP)...