High-Throughput Ultrasensitive Molecular Techniques for Quantifying Low-Density Malaria Parasitemias

ABSTRACT The epidemiology of malaria in “low-transmission” areas has been underestimated. Molecular detection methods have revealed higher prevalences of malaria than conventional microscopy or rapid diagnostic tests, but these typically evaluate finger-prick capillary blood samples (∼5 μl) and therefore cannot detect parasite densities of 20 parasites/ml) was developed and validated.