Novel application of one-step pooled molecular testing and maximum likelihood approaches to estimate the prevalence of malaria parasitaemia among rapid diagnostic test negative samples in western Kenya

Table 3 Comparison of resource costs and time required for individual and one-step pooled quantitative polymerase chain reaction tests

Test	Number of tests	Unit	Total cost, USD^a	Total time, hours^b	Total cost savings, USD	Total time savings, hours
Individual qPCR	4670	samples	$22,509^c	771^d	ref.	ref.
One-step pooled qPCR	934	pools of 5	$6,090^e	448^f	$16,420 (73%)	322 (42%)
One-step pooled qPCR with validation subset	934 pools and 1000 samples		$10,910	613	$11,600 (52%)	157 (20%)

qPCR = quantitative polymerase chain reaction, ref = reference, USD = United States Dollar
^aCosts include: DNA extraction kits and reagents, cleaning reagents for pooled sample extraction, qPCR mastermix, probes, primers, and qPCR plates, and general supplies including tubes, pipette tips, and gloves, etc.
^bIncludes hands-on staff time required to cut dried blood spots, extract DNA, and prepare samples for qPCR
^cEstimated cost per test: USD $4.82
^dEstimated time for 1000 samples or 200 pools: 165 h
^eEstimated cost per test: USD $6.52
^fEstimated time for 1000 samples or 200 pools: 96 h

ISSN: 1475-2875