Biruksew, AbdissaDemeke, AshenafiBirhanu, ZewdieKebede, EstifanosGolassa, LemuMathebula, Evans MantiriYewhalaw, Delenasaw2024-08-212024-08-212023-03-29Biruksew, A., Demeke, A., Birhanu, Z. et al. 2023, 'Diagnostic performance of NxTek (TM) eliminate malaria-Pf test for the detection of Plasmodium falciparum in school children with asymptomatic malaria', Malaria Journal, vol. 22, no. 112, pp. 1-13. https://DOI.org/10.1186/s12936-023-04529-y.1475-2875 (online)10.1186/s12936-023-04529-yhttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/97783AVAILABILITY OF DATA AND MATERIALS : The datasets used in the current study are available from the corresponding author upon request.BACKGROUND : One of the major roadblocks to the falciparum malaria elimination programme is the presence of a portion of the population, such as school children, with asymptomatic malaria infection. Targeting such reservoirs of infections is critical to interrupting transmission and enhancing elimination efforts. The NxTek ™ Eliminate Malaria Pf test is a highly sensitive rapid diagnostic test (hsRDT) for the detection of HRP-2. However, knowledge gaps exist in Ethiopia on the diagnostic performance of hsRDT for the detection of Plasmodium falciparum in school children with asymptomatic malaria. METHODS : A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2021 to January 2022 on 994 healthy school children (aged 6–15 years). Finger-pricked whole blood samples were collected for microscopy, hsRDT, conventional RDT (cRDT or SD Bioline Malaria Ag Pf/P.v), and QuantStudio ™ 3 Real—Time PCR system (qPCR). The hsRDT was compared to cRDT and microscopy. qPCR and microscopy were used as reference methods. RESULTS : The prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum was 1.51%, 2.2%. 2.2% and 4.52%, by microscopy, hsRDT, cRDT and qPCR, respectively. Using qPCR as reference, the sensitivity of hsRDT was higher (48.89%) than the microscopy (33.3%), and showed 100% specificity and a positive predictive value (PPV). Microscopy showed similar specificity and PPV as hsRDT. Using microscopy as a reference, the diagnostic perforrmances of both hsRDT and cRDT were similar. Both RDTs demonstrated identical diagnostic performances in both comparison methods. CONCLUSIONS : hsRDT has the same diagnostic performance as cRDT but improved diagnostic characteristics than microscopy for detection of P. falciparum in school children with asymptomatic malaria. It can be a useful tool for the national malaria elimination plan of Ethiopia.en© The Author(s) 2023. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.Asymptomatic falciparum malariaSchool childrenEthiopiaHighly sensitive rapid diagnostic test (hsRDT)Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)Plasmodium falciparumNxTek™ eliminate Malaria Pf testSDG-03: Good health and well-beingArticle