African Institute for Research in Infectious Diseases
2025
Are malaria rapid diagnostic test results stable over time to support verification of surveillance data?
Abstract
Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have improved malaria case management by enabling point-of-care confirmation of infection, particularly in low-resource settings. In addition to clinical use, RDT results recorded in health facility registers are a critical component of national malaria surveillance systems. Recently, national programs have explored using stored RDT cassettes to validate register data. However, manufacturers caution that results should be read within 15 - 30 minutes, raising concerns about result validity after this period. This study evaluated the stability of RDT results over a one-month period to assess whether stored cassettes can reliably reflect initial test outcomes.
