The underperforming Abbott-Bioline Malaria Ag P.f/P.v rapid diagnostic test: a whiter shade of pale - where the truth is not plain to see
Kyaw Sithu Thein, Kyaw Soe, Saw Kan Sint Tun, Roy Kuipers, Sieb Janssen, Joel Tarning, Yinmon Htun, Nicholas P Day, Thar Tun Kyaw, Arjen M Dondorp, Nicholas J White, Frank M Smithuis · 2025
Read The underperforming Abbott-Bioline Malaria Ag P.f/P.v rapid diagnostic test: a whiter shade of pale - where the truth is not plain to see by Kyaw Sithu Thein, Kyaw Soe, Saw Kan Sint Tun, Roy Kuipers, Sieb Janssen, Joel Tarning, Yinmon Htun, Nicholas P Day, Thar Tun Kyaw, Arjen M Dondorp, Nicholas J White, Frank M Smithuis (2025) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/pmc-12703916.txt.
Description
Quick finger-prick tests guide malaria care across much of Asia, so a test that misses cases is a serious risk. Kyaw Sithu Thein and co-authors report a 2025 field check of one widely used test during an outbreak in Myanmar.
Workers compared the quick test with microscope checks in 187 people with fever. The microscope found 46 cases of one malaria type, but the quick test caught only 11 of them. Even among patients with parasite levels above the set threshold, the test caught well under half. The colored band that marks a positive result was often faint or absent. The authors warn that reliance on this test could leave many patients untreated.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Kyaw Sithu Thein, Kyaw Soe, Saw Kan Sint Tun, Roy Kuipers, Sieb Janssen, Joel Tarning, Yinmon Htun, Nicholas P Day, Thar Tun Kyaw, Arjen M Dondorp, Nicholas J White, Frank M Smithuis |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2025 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 35 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |