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J Parasit Dis Diagn Ther 2017
Volume 2 Issue 3
September 7-8, 2017 | Edinburgh, Scotland
4th International Conference on
Tropical Medicine, Infectious Diseases & Public Health
Notes:
Tropical Medicine 2017
Ranjan Ramasamy, J Parasit Dis Diagn Ther 2017
FLUORESCENCE IN SITU
HYBRIDIZATION (FISH) ASSAYS FOR
DIAGNOSING MALARIA IN ENDEMIC
AREAS
Malaria is a responsible for approximately 600 thousand
deaths worldwide every year. Appropriate and timely
treatment of malaria can prevent deaths but is dependent
on accurate and rapid diagnosis of the infection. Currently,
microscopic examination of the Giemsa stained blood smears
is the method of choice for diagnosing malaria. Although it
has limited sensitivity and specificity in field conditions, it
still remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of malaria.
Here, we report the development of a fluorescence in situ
hybridization (FISH) based method for detecting malaria
infection in blood smears and describe the use of an LED light
source that makes the method suitable for use in resource-
limited malaria endemic countries. The Plasmodium Genus
(P-Genus) FISH assay has a Plasmodium genus specific probe
that detects all five species of Plasmodium known to cause the
disease in humans. The P. falciparum (PF) FISH assay and
P. vivax (PV) FISH assay detect and differentiate between P.
falciparum and P. vivax respectively from other Plasmodium
species. The FISH assays are more sensitive than Giemsa.
The sensitivities of P-Genus, PF and PV FISH assays were
found to be 98.2%, 94.5% and 98.3%, respectively compared
to 89.9%, 83.3% and 87.9% for the detection of Plasmodium,
P. falciparum and P. vivax by Giemsa staining respectively.
Biography
Ranjan Ramasamy graduated from the University of Cambridge, UK and then obtained
a PhD also from the University of Cambridge. He has since held academic appoint-
ments in the UK and abroad including Australia, Sri Lanka and the USA. He was the
Chairman of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, Professor of Life Sciences
at the Institute of Fundamental Studies in Kandy in Sri Lanka, Professor of Biochemistry
in the University of Jaffna in Jaffna Sri Lanka, Professor of Immunology in the University
Brunei Darussalam Medical School and held institute/ university appointments at the
Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla in the USA, University of Nairobi in
Kenya, King Faisal University in Dammam in Saudi Arabia, the Queensland Institute
of Medical Research in Australia, Anglia Ruskin University in England and the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in England. He has more than 200 publica-
tions in fields pertaining to Medical Sciences.
Ranjan Ramasamy
ID-FISH Technology Incorporation, USA