Quality Assurance Testing of Some Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests Procured from Open Markets in Lagos State, Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume VII, Issue I, January 2022 | ISSN 2454–6194

Quality Assurance Testing of Some Malaria Rapid Diagnostic Tests Procured from Open Markets in Lagos State, Nigeria

Okangba, C.C.^1*, Elikwu C. J.¹, Tayo B.¹, Nwadike, V.U.^1,3, Shonekan O^{1, 2},Omeonu, A.C.¹, Faluyi, B.¹, Engime, E.¹, Okangba, K. K¹, Shyllon, O.I.¹, Solanke, O.A.¹, Taiwo. A. A.¹, Wali, O.G.¹, Williams, O. O.^1
1Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology Benjamin Carson (Snr) School of Medicine, Babcock University. Illisan –Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria
²Department of Medical Microbiology, Federal Medical Centre Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria
³Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
*Corresponding Author

Abstract: Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (MRDTs) have the potential of significantly improving the diagnosis of malaria in developing countries, especially where there is no adequate microscopy service for the diagnosis of malaria or act as a back-up to microscopy for inexperience personnel. However, the absolute reliance of these tests remains a problem due to uncertainty of the quality of the test and lack of confidence since there is no regulation and proper quality control. The remarkable decline in the performance of the MRDTs can be adversely affected by the high temperatures to which they were exposed to in a tropical country, manufacturer’s defects, poor storage facility, mishandling in the course of transportation and use of sub- standard materials in production. There is need for proper regulatory body to regulate the manufacturing and importation of RDTs against any unwholesome practice. Also, there is need to consider the importance of stability of diagnostic test during procurement.

Key words: Malaria, Rapid Diagnostic Test, Quality Control samples, Quality Assurance Testing and Procured

I. INTRODUCTION

The mainstay of malaria diagnosis has previously been clinical diagnosis and malaria microscopy.

However, parasite-based diagnosis is now recognized as vital for good case management of febrile illness, to reduce anti-malarial drug wastage, and for monitoring of malaria prevalence and the impact of anti-malaria interventions. Rapid diagnostic tests RDTs have gained increasing importance in addressing this need, in areas where good-quality microscopy is unavailable (WHO, 2014).So as to ensure RDTs contribute to management, it is essential to ensure the accuracy of products prior to disseminating to the field where quality monitoring is often difficult. Rapid diagnostic tests are increasingly becoming a paradigm for both clinical diagnosis of malaria infections and for estimating community parasite prevalence in household malaria indicator surveys in malaria-endemic countries

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