Malaria Diagnosis: Thin vs Thick Smears

Thin smears are not routinely examined to diagnose malaria in a patient except when there is technical problems with the thick smears, when confirmation of the species is difficult or uncertain in the thick smear, or when the parasite density is very ______

Examine the thin smear until the presence and species of malaria parasites have been identified, or up to at least 800 fields before declaring the slide ______

The limit of detection by experienced microscopists is usually 10-20 parasites per μl of ______

Following a negative result, examination of the blood should be repeated after a few ______

Malaria rapid diagnostic (RDTs) detect malaria-specific antigens derived from the blood stages of malaria parasites. The presence antigen is indicated by a result across a ______ strip

RDTs provide a useful support to clinical diagnosis of malaria and a validate native to microscopy for the clinic diagnosis of uncomplicated ______ particularly where good quality microscopy services are not readily available

The advantages of parasitological diagnosis are: improved care of parasite-positive patients owing to greater certainty that the cause of the present illness is ______

Microscopy has a high degree of sensitivity and specificity when performed well. In addition, it allows quantification of malaria parasites and identification of the infecting ______

Types of stains: Many differential stains have been developed for the detection of malaria parasites but the Romanowsky stains that stain the nucleus red and cytoplasm blue have proved the most adaptable and reliable for routine work. Giemsa stain, an alcohol-based Romanowsky stain, is the 'gold ______'

A skilled microscopist is able to detect asexual parasites at densities of fewer than 10 per microliter of blood but under typical field conditions the limit of sensitivity is approximately 100 parasites per ______

Therapeutic dose calculation is essential for the treatment of uncomplicated ______ malaria

______ rapid diagnostic tests have been developed for the detection of malaria parasites

Field stain is most commonly used for routine diagnosis due to its applicability to both thick and thin blood films, its stability during storage, and its constant and reproducible staining quality over a range of __________.

Field stain is a good method to stain thick smears but not suitable for __________.

Leishman's stain solution uses __________ as a solvent and is useful to stain thin smears.

Thick smears are more sensitive for detecting the presence of parasites, while thin smears can provide more details for species __________.

Before starting parasite count, 100 fields of the thick smear at a magnification of 700 are examined to establish the presence of parasites and their __________.

If an experienced microscopist is not available, Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) should be used for diagnosing __________.