Fig. 7

The range of malaria infection and a comparison of the sensitivity of three diagnostic methods: microscopy, RDT, and PCR. Microscopy and RDTs are sensitive enough to detect symptomatic infections but not those with low parasite density. PCR is more sensitive than the other two techniques (RDT and microscopy) but is unable to detect infections with very low parasitemia. PCR, polymerase chain reaction; RDT, rapid diagnostic test