Comparison of malaria diagnostic methods for detection of asymptomatic Plasmodium infections among pregnant women in northwest Ethiopia

Malaria in pregnancy remains a major public health problem in the globe, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In malaria endemic areas, most pregnant women remain asymptomatic, but malaria could still cause complications on the mother and her offspring; as well as serve as reservoirs to transmit infection. Despite these effects, no attention is given to the diagnosis of asymptomatic Plasmodium infections (APIs) using highly sensitive and specific laboratory diagnostic tools in Ethiopia. Therefore, the goal of this study was to compare the performance of Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT), microscopy and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect APIs among pregnant women.