Rapid Assay for Detection of Falciparum Malaria

Despite longstanding public health efforts to control malaria, a resurgence of the disease hasoccurred in recent years, and infection with the parasite that causes malaria is responsible for significantmorbidity and mortality in developing countries. Microscopy is the best-known test for diagnosis ofmalaria; however, it is becoming increasingly evident that microscopic diagnosis of malaria is not feasiblein all parts of the developing world due to financial and technical constraints. These problems, as wellas the failure of other malaria control interventions, are creating a demand for better diagnostictechnologies at both national and international program levels. Equal Access to Scientific Excellence(E.A.S.E.), a small business specializing in developing and manufacturing immunoassays, will developa low-cost, accurate, and simple one-step test for use in clinical diagnosis, especially at the peripheraland intermediate health-care levels. The specific technology that will be developed is an immunochroma-tographic test strip that provides a semi quantitative diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum from bloodspecimens.