Evaluation of practical skills for the microscopic diagnosis of malaria in three provinces of the Republic of Cuba

[摘要] Introduction:despite its various limitations, optical microscopy continues to be the referencetechnique to diagnose malaria. Some of these limitations are associated to conditionsin laboratories, whereas others have to do with the training and experienceof the personnel who read thick- and thin-film smears.Objective:evaluate the practical skills for the microscopic diagnosis of malaria in threeprovinces of the Republic of Cuba.Methods:the study was conducted from October to November 2016, and included 45 participantsfrom the provinces of Pinar del Río, Villa Clara and Santiago de Cuba. It wasdivided into three stages: 1) evaluation of the practical skills for the microscopicdiagnosis of malaria and detection of practical insufficiencies related to it,2) educational intervention aimed at attenuating the practical deficienciesfound, and 3) evaluation of the efficacy of the educational intervention conducted.All analyses were performed using the statistical software packages EpiInfoversion 6.04 for Windows and Epidat 3.1.Results:practical insufficiencies were found in the conduct of malaria microscopic diagnosisby the technical personnel in charge of this task. These were mainly relatedto microscopic and morphological aspects, affecting the quality of the microscopicdiagnosis. The educational intervention carried out was effective, for it significantlyimproved the practical skills related to the microscopic diagnosis of the diseasein the group of persons participating in the study.Conclusions:the results obtained will serve as foundation for implementation of a possibleeducational intervention aimed at improving the quality of malaria diagnosisin the network of Cuban laboratories.

[学科分类] 传染病学

[关键词] malaria;diagnosis;thick-film smear.