Despite longstanding public health efforts to control malaria, a resurgence of the disease has occurred in recent years, and infection with the parasite that causes malaria is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Microscopy is the best-known test for diagnosis of malaria; however, it is becoming increasingly evident that microscopic diagnosis of malaria is not feasible in all parts of the developing world due to financial and technical constraints. These problems, as well as the failure of other malaria control interventions, are creating a demand for better diagnostic technologies at both national and international program levels. Equal Access to Scientific Excellence (E.A.S.E.), a small business specializing in developing and manufacturing immunoassays, proposes to develop a low-cost, accurate, and simple one- step test for use in clinical diagnosis, especially at the peripheral and intermediate health-care levels. The specific technology that will be developed is an immunochromatographic test strip that provides a semi quantitative diagnosis of Plasmodium falciparum from blood specimens.
