One of the challenges in R&D is to find robust technologies to develop diagnostic tests. Notably, it could be within a context of asymptomatic infections for which reliable detection of positive specimens is crucial.
Jordi Landiera et al. have just published an article in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology (doi.org/10.1128/JCM.00565-18) using a combination of PCR and immunoassays to reveal the benefit of an HRP2-based ultrasensitive rapid diagnostic test that was developed to improve the detection of Plasmodium falciparum low density infections.