False negative results and the prozone effect

The prozone effect is a very rare, but recognised effect that causes false negative results of tests. Most often the prozone effect is seen with HRP2 antigens. This effect means that where these is a very high parasitaemia (causing excess HRP2 antigen to be present) test can appear negative. It is thought that the presence of excess antigen means that the formation of appropriate antibody-antigen complexes is prevented so that the test does not function correctly. Return to pan-specific antibody page