A new test, illumigene® Malaria, developed with the American Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has set the new gold standard for malaria diagnosis.

Today the test has received its CE mark, meaning the test is now available for use throughout Europe. illumigene® Malaria is set to revolutionise diagnosis as it is highly accurate, up to 80,000 times more sensitive than current tests, with results available in under one hour.

illumigene® Malaria, developed by Meridian Bioscience, uses novel molecular LAMP technology which is easy to use without the need for high level technical expertise, can be used at room temperature without the need to heat  or refrigerate reagents or samples unlike other malaria tests. The technology has successfully been used in other areas, such as C. difficile and Streptococcus, but this is the first time it has been approved for use in malaria.

Professor Daouda Ndiaye, Department of Parasitology-Mycology, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal, and a world expert in malaria at a leading reference laboratory said “illumigene® Malaria has the potential to change practice. Faster and more accurate diagnosis is vital in the fight against malaria. Earlier diagnosis enables the correct treatment to be given which leads to better clinical outcomes for the person with malaria and keeps malaria treatments for the right people. Because of submicroscopic parasitemia carriage among the populations, a robust, sensitive and field community-deployable screening tool is needed to track the malaria reservoir in pre-elimination regions.  illumigene® Malaria shows this capacity.”

Malaria:

• Malaria is still one of the deadliest infectious diseases, despite global declines, and 70% of malaria deaths are in children under 5 years
• Due to people visiting friends and relatives and immigration, the incidence rates of malaria are increasing in Europe
• Between 10,000 and 12,000 cases of imported malaria are notified in the European Union each year, but significant underreporting is assumed
• Although areas such as western Europe have succeeded in eliminating malaria, most areas have Anopheles mosquitoes that can transmit malaria, so reintroduction of the disease is a constant risk
• Global health organisations stress that malaria must be diagnosed and treated promptly to keep the illness from progressing and to help prevent further spread; misdiagnosis can result in significant morbidity and mortality 

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