Abstract
In 2019, 229 million cases of malaria were recorded worldwide. For epidemiologic surveillance and proper treatment of persons infected with Plasmodium spp., rapid detection of infections by Plasmodium spp. is critical. Thus, Plasmodium spp. diagnosis is one of the indispensable measures for malaria control. Although microscopy is the gold standard for diagnosis, it has restrictions related mainly to the lack of qualified human resources, which is a problem in many regions. Thus, this review presents major innovations in diagnostic methods as alternatives to or complementary to microscopy. Detection platforms in lateral flow systems, electrochemical immunosensors, molecular biology and, more recently, those integrated with smartphones, are highlighted, among others. The advanced improvement of these tests aims to provide techniques that are sensitive and specific, but also quick, easy to handle and free from the laboratory environment. In this way, the tracking of malaria cases can become increasingly effective and contribute to controlling the disease.
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Adapted from Rebould et al. (2019) and within the recommendations of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Adapted from Hemben et al. (Hemben et al. 2017) and within the recommendations of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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We thank Amy Grabner for the English edition of the manuscript.
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The authors express their gratitude to Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Rondônia (FAPERO), Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia, Epidemiologia da Amazônia Ocidental (INCT-EpiAmO) and Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) for the financial support.
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NBdS: conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, writing—original draft. LdNM: conceptualization, investigation, methodology. RMdOS: data curation. Sd SP: data curation, writing - review & editing. CBGT: data curation, writing—review & editing, visualization.
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Brilhante-da-Silva, N., do Nascimento Martinez, L., de Oliveira Sousa, R.M. et al. Innovations in Plasmodium spp. diagnosis on diverse detection platforms. 3 Biotech 11, 505 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-021-03054-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13205-021-03054-6