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Evaluation of a malarial antibody assay for use in the screening of blood and tissue products for clinical use
Author(s) -
Kitchen A. D.,
Lowe P. H. J,
Lalloo K.,
Chiodini P. L.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
vox sanguinis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.68
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1423-0410
pISSN - 0042-9007
DOI - 10.1111/j.1423-0410.2004.00561.x
Subject(s) - malaria , plasmodium vivax , antibody , medicine , immunoassay , immunofluorescence , plasmodium falciparum , immunology , direct fluorescent antibody , virology , vivax malaria , antigen
Background and Objectives A new recombinant Plasmodium antigen enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for the detection of malarial antibodies was evaluated for the screening of ‘malaria‐risk’ blood and tissue donations. Materials and Methods A total of 13 269 donor and patient samples were tested by both the EIA and the standard diagnostic antibody immunofluorescence test (IFAT). Results A total of 114/138 (82·6%) samples from patients with P. falciparum and 11/13 (84·6%) samples from patients with P. vivax tested positive. A total of 714/13 053 (5·47%) samples from donors identified as ‘malaria risk’, owing to residency or travel, were reactive in the EIA. Conclusions The assay is more sensitive than a previously implemented malarial antibody EIA (73% in acute P. falciparum and 56% in acute P. vivax infections). The sensitivity of this new EIA is comparable to that of the IFAT, and the specificity is sufficient to screen ‘malaria‐risk’ donors.