Abstract
Introduction: Malaria is a mosquito borne blood disease with a worldwide distribution transmitted through blood meals of infected female anopheles mosquitoes (World Health Organization (WHO, 2018). Malaria parasites is usually confirmed and assessed by microscopic examination of blood films or by malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests (mRDT) which may include Histidine-Rich Protein 2(HRP2), Plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase (pLDH), Urine Malaria Test (UMT). The microscopic detection of malaria parasite is generally considered as the gold standard in malaria diagnosis due to good sensitivity and specificity. The objective of this study is to assess the performance of malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests 2 (Histidine rich protein 2 and urine malaria test) with microscopy for the detection of malaria parasite among undergraduate students attending Babcock University.
Methodology: A cross sectional study design was used. The study was carried out between October 2018 to February 2019 in Babcock University/ Babcock University Teaching Hospital, Illishan Remo, Ogun state. A total of two hundred (200) undergraduate students of Babcock University were recruited for this study. Rapid diagnostic tests (HRP-2 and UMT) and microscopy were used as the main diagnostic tools for this research along wit questionnaire.
Result: the study revealed that 100% of the respondents knew about malaria as a disease. 14% of the study population had been hospitalized this year of which 64.3% were due to malaria and its complications. 0.5% of the study population had malaria less than 1 month , 14.5% had malaria in less than 3 months ago, 24% had malaria within 4-6 months ago and 24.5% didn??t know when they last had malaria. Of the proportion of study subjects that visited the hospital (59.5%), microscopy was used in a greater percentage to diagnose (60.5%), none were iagnosed using RDTs, with the rest (39.5%) unsure of the method usedfor iagnosis. The HRP-2 tested positive for only one (0.5%) patient sample collected whilst, UMT tested negative for all samples (100%). Microscopy, the gold standard tested negative for all patients recruited for the research.
Conclusion: The prevalence of malaria parasite amongst undergraduate student of Babcock University is very low due to good knowledge and awareness of malaria parasites and its prevention. It was also revealed that HRP is a sensitive rapid diagnostic test while, UMT is
more specific.
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