On the discriminatory and predictive accuracy of the RDT against the microscopy in the diagnosis of malaria among under-five children in Nigeria.

Although there was a significant agreement in the outcomes of RDT and microscopy tests, the discriminatory accuracy of RDT was weak. Also, the predictive accuracy, especially the PPV of the RDTS, were very low. These measures of accuracies differed across the age of the children, level of anaemia, recent experience of malaria and other characteristics. Without an accurate, efficient and reliable diagnosis of malaria, the goal of eliminating malaria and reduction of malaria-related deaths to zero by 2020 will only remain elusive.