Fig. 3

Selecting varATS qPCR as the gold standard P. falciparum diagnosis. In subgroup analysis, 788 children were tested for P. falciparum by both 18S PCR (positive/negative endpoint PCR) and varATS qPCR. A A higher proportion of samples were positive by varATS qPCR (14.2%, n = 112) compared to 18S PCR (8.4%, n = 56). B Parasite densities (determined by varATS qPCR) were significantly higher in samples detectable by 18S (median 5.4 parasites/µL, IQR 1.2–27.7, n = 56) than those that were not (median 1.8 parasites/µL, IQR 0.8–13.3, n = 56). Significance determined by Mann-Whitney test