A Parasitological and Serological Study in Malaria Suspected Patients in Hormozgan Province, Southeastern Iran

Background: Presence of malaria immune factors induced by erythrocytic stages is widely used as an epidemiological approach to diagnose the infection mainly to distinguish the current, recent and past infections. This study was performed to find out the status of malaria, using microscopical and serological (IFA) methods in Bandar- Abbas and Minab, two malarious districts in Hormozgan Province of Iran. Methods: 408 patients with suspected malaria symptoms were enrolled. Conventional microscopic examination and serological IFA test were employed for diagnosis of malaria. The rates of agreement between microscopical and serological diagnosis were analyzed by Kappa test. Results: 17.9% and 1.7% of the samples were microscopically diagnosed as P. vivax and P. falciparum, respectively. On the other hand, the serum samples were sero-positive with P. vivax and P. falciparum antigens in 54.2% and 32.1% of the samples, respectively. Conclusions: Serological IFA method could mainly determine the past history of malaria infection, but it was not helpful in detection of current infections. Moreover, there was no significant agreement between microscopical and serological (IFA) methods in diagnosis of malaria.