Publications by authors named "Joseph Alexandre Mavungu Bala"
Purpose: The Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the highest burdens of malaria in the world, accounting for 12.3% of malaria cases and 11.6% of malaria deaths.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImpact of malaria diagnostic choice on monitoring of Plasmodium falciparum prevalence estimates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and relevance to control programs in high-burden countries.
Alpha Oumar Diallo Kristin Banek Melchior Mwandagalirwa Kashamuka Joseph Alexandre Mavungu Bala Marthe Nkalani
PLOS Glob Public Health
July 2023
Article Synopsis
- Malaria control programs use various diagnostic methods like RDTs, microscopy, PCR, and BBA to assess malaria prevalence, but data comparing these methods, especially in high-burden areas like the DRC, is scarce.
- The study analyzed samples from 1,431 participants in Kinshasa Province, revealing significant differences in Plasmodium falciparum prevalence rates across health areas, with BBA and PCR showing the highest sensitivity based on prevalence intensity.
- RDTs demonstrated consistent specificity across all regions, but overall prevalence estimates varied significantly depending on the diagnostic method used, indicating the need for careful selection of diagnostic tools in malaria monitoring.