RESEARCH Open Access Comparative performance g o

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleMalaria is a deadly infectious disease with a global im-pact extending from the most developed countries to the most remote regions of the world [1]. Worldwide malaria mortality rates have been significantly reduced over the last decade by 45 % in all age groups and by 51 % in children under five years of age [2]. This is a global malaria targets of reducing the incidence rate by 75 % by 2015 [3]. However, there is no need for compla-cency but rather a more focused approach to ensure that misdiagnosis which results in treatment delays [4] and subsequent mortality does not occur in future. The standard method of malaria diagnosis is by the routine microscopic examination of Giemsa-stained blood smears [5]. Fluorescent staining methods such as quantita-tive buffy coat (QBC) have also been recommended for use * Correspondence: jufwang@scut.edu.cn1School of Bioscience and Bioengineering, South China University ofAbstrac