Plasmodium Genus and PFV Fluorescent In Situ Hybridization (FISH) Assay Kit for d

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Malaria can be a life-threatening disease, especially in children, if left untreated. According to WHO, 525,000 to 2.0 million African children die from Malaria every year. The current gold standard for diagnosis is examination of Giemsa stained smear by microscopy. However, when parasite levels are very low, or in mixed infections, the information obtained by examination of Giemsa stained smear by microscopy is limited. Under SBIR Phase II we have developed 3 kits, P-Genus, PF and PV FISH assay kits. These kits detect malaria parasites on blood smears prepared with a special reagent by Fluorescent in Situ Hybridization (FISH) technique, using specific fluorescent labeled DNA probes targeted to ribosomal RNA of viable parasites. P- Genus kit detects all species of Plasmodium. PF-FISH kit and PV-FISH kit detect and differentiate P. falciparum and P. vivax from other species of Plasmodium respectively, on any P-Genus screen positive blood sample. Since ribosomal RNA is