Fig. 2

Lowest parasitaemia detected for the COX-III single direct-PCR and the 18s-rRNA nested-PCR on positive controls. a The lowest for P. vivax was 2 parasites/μL using the COX-III based PCR (expected fragment around 500 bp). b For P. falciparum (with COX-III PCR) was 0.6 parasites/μL. Adding one blood spot from healthy donors A and B to the parasite dilutions did not affect the PCR performance. Donor’s blood did not amplify any bands. c Performance of the 18s-rRNA genus-malaria nested PCR on nine positive control samples collected in the field (band of 235 bp). Non-specific bands are present. d Plasmodium vivax (121 bp), P. falciparum (200 bp) and a mixed infection detected in positive controls using the species-specific nested PCR