Automatic Blood Cell Analyzer Detects Malaria Parasites

The analyzer can sensitively detect and accurately monitor an infection of Plasmodium vivax in blood samples, as well as being an effective screening test for the parasite.

Scientists at the Catholic University of Korea (Seoul, Korea) retrospectively analyzed a total of 1,761 complete blood count (CBC) samples generated by the automated hematology analyzer. The sample pool contained 123 samples from 52 P. vivax malaria patients and 1,504 nonmalarial samples including 509 patients with leucopenia whose white blood cell count was less than 2,000/μL, and 134 normal subjects.

The P. vivax malaria samples exhibited easily recognizable typical malaria signals on the nucleated red blood cell (nRBC) plots with a sensitivity of 100% using the automatic blood cell analyzer, the DxH 800. All 1,504 samples without P. vivax infection were negative for malaria signal giving a specificity of 100%. The size of P. vivax malaria signals correlated approximately with the parasite burden.

The gold standard of P. vivax-malaria diagnosis is the microscopy of blood smears. Although microscopy is a rapid, cost-effective, and readily applicable method, it has many disadvantages, including low sensitivity, specificity, and precision. Therefore, there is a clear need for an effective screening test for P. vivax-malaria detection in both high-prevalence areas and developed countries.

The automated hematology analyzer DxH 800 (Beckman Coulter Inc., Miami, FL, USA) provided very sensitive and specific, easily recognizable P. vivax-malaria signals on routine CBC without need for the additional reagents or special procedures. The study was published online on November 11, 2011, in the International Journal of Laboratory Hematology.

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Catholic University of Korea
Beckman Coulter Inc.