The study assessed the performance of SD Bioline Histidine Rich Protein 2 (HRP2) based rapid diagnostic test in blood and saliva samples in order to assess the usefulness of saliva as an alternative sample to blood in malaria diagnosis. A total of 1026 blood samples and 186 saliva samples (total RDT positive sample) were collected from patients who attended the clinic, and fell within the inclusion criteria at St Mathew's Hospital, Amukoko, Lagos State. Microscopy and rapid diagnostic test were carried out on the whole blood samples and saliva, the RDTs tested demonstrated a high sensitivity 96.7% for SD Bioline, and a high specificity 98.7% for SD Bioline at a 95% confidence interval(p=0.445). Saliva samples demonstrated a low sensitivity of 12.7% for SD Bioline whilst a high specificity of 99.9% for SD Bioline HRP-2 RDT. There was no significant difference between microscopy and SD Bioline HRP 2(?2, P=0.05) and as such it is a good diagnostic tools for malaria, while saliva serves as a promising possible means of non-invasive technique in malaria diagnosis.
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