Evaluation of the direct acridine orange staining method and Q.B.C. test for diagnosis of malaria in Delhi, India

Abstract

Conventional Giemsa stained peripheral blood smear examination for demonstration of malarial parasites remains the gold standard for diagnosis of malaria in developing endemic countries. However this technique is time consuming, requires training and may give poor results in cases with low parasitaemia. To overcome these problems and improve diagnostic accuracy two newer tests have been studied and compared with standard Giemsa staining. These are the wet mount fluorescence microscopy of Acridine Orange stained thin blood films (A.O.) and the Quantitative Buffy Coat technique (Q.B.C) for diagnosis of malaria. A.O. staining was found to be 97.5% sensitive and 100% specific for detection of all stages and species of malarial parasite. The Q.B.C assay was found to be 100% sensitive and 97.5% specific for diagnosis of malaria. A.O. staining was very fast and the species identification was easy once the staining was optimised. The Q.B.C. test required considerable amount of practice, costly equipment, however it was fast and in our study was found to be highly sensitive.