Nouvelles méthodes de diagnostic du paludisme

During the last years, new diagnostic tests based upon immunochromatographic methods have become commercially available. These socalled rapid diagnosis tests (RDTs) opened new perspectives for the investigation of febrile patients who were suspected to have malaria. Quite easyto-use, even for a non-trained person, these tests perform well for the diagnosis of falciparum infection. As a consequence, they represent for a large majority of the assay laboratories a sensitive and dependable answer to the problem of the diagnosis of imported malaria. However, an acute malaria attack cannot be ruled out on the only basis of negative result, so the testing should be then carried out again within 12 to 24 hours. PCR based-methods are now operational in most of the reference centers, and represent a helpful option in the complicated situations.