QBC Malaria®...
Malaria kills over three million people every
year, most of them children. Although it is generally thought of as a
disease found in developing countries, it can be found in the United
States and Europe as well, both from travelers and from local spread
around airports ("airport malaria"). The traditional diagnosis of
malaria requires a skilled microscopist to examine a blood smear for up
to a half hour, making it almost impossible to easily screen at-risk
populations for the disease. The QBC Malaria test was developed to
allow very rapid disease detection by relatively unskilled personnel,
using a minimum of equipment and is the only FDA-approved for malaria;
supplies are available from QBC Diagnostics.
- The QBC Malaria method is the simplest and most sensitive method for diagnosing the following diseases.
- Malaria
- Babesiosis
- Trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease, Sleeping Sickness)
- Filariasis (Elephantiasis, Loa-Loa)
- Relapsing Fever (Borreliosis)
Some research references are shown here.
The
cut-away at the left can be clicked on to show a larger view of a
cut-away QBC tube showing parasites in the blood. When the blood sample
is centrifuged, the red blood cells (RBCs) settle to the bottom and the
lighter components come to the top. Anything that decreases their
density of an RBC causes it to come to the top of the RBC layer, where
is is pressed against the wall of the tube by the plastic float. This
concentrates any infected RBCs into a tiny area where they can easily
be seen. Other blood-borne parasites, such as the trypanosomes of
sleeping sickness or the microfilaria of Elephantiasis will also come
into the same area.
When
the operator looks through the wall of the tube, the nucleus of the
parasite fluoresces bright green, and the cytoplasm shows up as
yellow-orange. The shape and colors are quite characteristic, and since
the parasites are concentrated up to 1000X, there are usually a large
number of them in any field of view in this area of the tube. Field
studies have found that an operator with no prior experience can be
taught to reliably recognize malaria with less than an hours training,
as opposed to the months required for training someone to be competent
in performing the usual method. The QBC Malaria method is now
recognized as the most sensitive and efficient test for detecting
malaria and other blood-borne diseases.
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The
cut-away at the left can be clicked on to show a larger view of a
cut-away QBC tube showing parasites in the blood. When the blood sample
is centrifuged, the red blood cells (RBCs) settle to the bottom and the
lighter components come to the top. Anything that decreases their
density of an RBC causes it to come to the top of the RBC layer, where
is is pressed against the wall of the tube by the plastic float. This
concentrates any infected RBCs into a tiny area where they can easily
be seen. Other blood-borne parasites, such as the trypanosomes of
sleeping sickness or the microfilaria of Elephantiasis will also come
into the same area.
