author(s)
Keptcheu TD Leonard, Lehmann Leonard, Payne V Khan and Gangue Tiburce

abstract
The present study aimed at comparing the performance of Rapid Diagnostic Test (CareStart™Malaria HRP2 Test), Sysmex/Partec Rapid Malaria test (FM) with reference to Light Microscopy (LM) for the diagnosis of malaria in rural area. 228 pupils, 6-15 years old were tested for malaria using the three methods. 61(26.75%) of the participants were positive for malaria. Light microscopy showed high sensitivity (96.23%) and specificity (95.43%) with positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 86.44% and 98.82% respectively, while Fluorescent Microscopy-Sysmex Rapid Malaria Test had a sensitivity and specificity of 92.45 and 98.86%, respectively, and positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 96.06% and 97.74%, respectively. The Care Start™ Malaria HRP2 and Fluorescent Microscopy-Sysmex Rapid Malaria tests demonstrated a good performance compared to conventional Light Microscopy. Both methods can be considered as alternative malaria diagnostic tools in rural areas. The setback being the non-quantification of parasites in blood.