Distribution of Plasmodium species on the island of Grande Comore on the basis of DNA extracted from rapid diagnostic tests

In the Union of Comoros, interventions for combating malaria have contributed to a spectacular decrease in the prevalence of the disease. We studied the current distribution of Plasmodium species on the island of Grande Comore using nested PCR. The rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) currently used in the Comoros are able to identify Plasmodium falciparum but no other Plasmodium species. In this study, we tested 211 RDTs (158 positive and 53 negative). Among the 158 positive RDTs, 22 were positive for HRP2, 3 were positive only for pLDH, and 133 were positive for HRP2 and pLDH. DNA was extracted from a proximal part of the nitrocellulose membrane of RDTs. A total of 159 samples were positive by nested PCR. Of those, 156 (98.11%) were positive for P. falciparum , 2 (1.25%) were positive for P. vivaxI , and 1 (0.62%) was positive for P. malariae . None of the samples were positive for P. ovale . Our results show that P. falciparum is still the most dominant species on the island of Grande Comore, but P. vivax and P. malariae are present at a low prevalence.