PERSISTENCE OF MALARIALANTIGEN FOLLOWING ANTIMALARIAL CHEMOTHERAPY IN KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL

Early diagnosis and complete treatment is one of the important aspects of malaria elimination programme worldwide. In many areas the diagnosis is based on detection of malarial antigen using commercially available rapid diagnostic kits. The problem remains with persistence of antigen following parasite clearance by proper treatment. The present work was undertaken to study the pattern of persistent antigen of P. vivax and P. falciparum following antimalarial treatment. Atotal of 300 microscopically positive mono-infected with P. vivax (160) and P. vivax (140) patients were recruited, treated with antimalarial drugs and followed up on day 3, 7, 14, 21 and 28 for persistent parasites and antigen. P. vivax specic pLDH antigen was disappeared from peripheral blood within 14 days post treatment period. P. falciparum specic HRP-2 antigen was persisted even after 28 days of treatment. Depending only on antigen based diagnosis, attention should be paid before treatment, particularly in areas with high malaria transmission