PERFORMANCE OF THE HISTIDINE RICH PROTEIN-2 (HRP-2) FOR DIAGNOSING Plasmodium falciparum AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN ATTENDING ANTENATAL CLINICS IN GASSOL LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA (LGA), TARABA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study assessed the diagnostic performance of one step malaria antigen P. falciparum (HRP-2) among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics at First Referral Hospital and Baba Luka Clinic in Gassol Local Government Area, Taraba State, Nigeria. Three hundred and seventy-four (374) blood samples were collected from participants and tested for malaria parasitaemia using rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and microscopy. The HRP-2 diagnostic test had a high diagnostic accuracy, with 100% sensitivity and 99.64% specificity. The positive predictive value (PPV) was 98.97%, and the negative predictive value (NPV) was 100%. The overall accuracy was 99.73%, with an area under curve (AUC) of 99.0% making the HRP-2 a reliable test for malaria detection. This study showed that the one step malaria antigen P. falciparum (HRP-2) was a reliable tool in malaria diagnosis among pregnant women in Gassol LGA, Taraba State.