BinaxNOW Malaria FDA cleared

Inverness Medical offers BinaxNOW Malaria for the rapid diagnosis of malaria infection - the only rapid test for malaria cleared by the FDA. BinaxNOW Malaria detects Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae and P. ovale antigens in whole blood in as little as 15 minutes and is ideal for field or laboratory use with its easy-to-use test card format. Consequently, this can ensure the most appropriate treatment is administered before protracted laboratory tests are complete, helping to prevent the occurrence of unnecessary complications.

Malaria is a parasitic disease transmitted from person to person via a mosquito vector and can cause severe fever, chills and flu like symptoms. With approximately 40% of the world’s population at risk of malaria¹, early diagnosis and effective treatment are crucial to controlling this potentially fatal disease. BinaxNOW is ideal for differing diagnostic needs within malaria endemic regions and malaria-free countries.

Since malaria is prevalent in many of the world’s holiday hotspots, travellers from malaria-free countries are highly susceptible to infection due to little or no immunity and can be wrongly diagnosed on their return home. With limited experience in diagnosing tropical diseases not prevalent in their own countries, clinicians can have added confidence in the comprehensible visual result provided by BinaxNOW Malaria. For this reason BinaxNOW Malaria is the first and only rapid test to be used alongside standard laboratory testing cleared by the FDA for the detection of malaria.

With the majority of those at risk of malaria living in the poorest countries in the world, in areas lacking reliable electricity and diagnostic equipment, BinaxNOW Malaria also enables initial rapid testing to occur in remote clinics. This would help to prevent the rapid spread of antimalarial drug resistance, as treatment can be made more targeted and controlled.

^1. World Health Organisation