Detection of Plasmodium vivax by nested PCR and real-time PCR.

Malaria is endemic in the Cukurova region while it is sporadic in other regions of Turkey. Therefore, the laboratory and clinical diagnosis of malaria is important for the treatment of malaria. In this study, 92 blood samples that were taken from the suspected malaria patients for routine diagnosis in a period of 10 years between 1999 and 2009 were analyzed. All of these blood samples were examined by microscopic examinations using Giemsa-stained thick blood films, nested PCR, and real-time PCR. The sensitivity-specificity and positive-negative predictive values for these diagnostic tests were then calculated. It was found that the positive predictive values of microscopic examination of thick blood films, nested PCR, and real-time PCR were 47.8%, 56.5%, and 60.9% for malaria, respectively. The real-time PCR was found to have a specificity of 75% and sensitivity of 100%, while specificity and sensitivity of nested PCR was found 81.2% and 97.7% according to the microscopic examination of thick blood films, respectively.