In brief

Evaluation of a new rapid test for dengue serology

In 2004, the Pasteur Institute of New Caledonia and the Clinical Laboratory of Yap State Hospital in the Federated States of Micronesia conducted a collaborative study under the framework of PPHSN to evaluate a new rapid test for dengue serology that could be regionally recommended for use in other Pacific Islands.

Test details:

PENTAX Anti-Dengue Virus IgM Detection PA kit 96
Contact: http://www.pentax.co.jp/english/products/newceramics/virus/

The results of the evaluation have just been published in WHO’s Dengue Bulletin (reference: Berlioz-Arthaud, A., Marfel, M., Durand, A.M. and Ogawa, T. Evaluation of a new anti-dengue virus IgM particle agglutination kit in the context of the Pacific Islands. Dengue Bulletin, vol. 29, 2005: 70–78).

This is the abstract of the article:

“The objectives of this regional study were to evaluate a new dengue IgM particle agglutination (PA) test in terms of sensitivity and specificity to compare this kit to a widely used immunochromatographic strip test and to assess its operational handling in limited settings, such as those encountered in the Pacific insular region. The sensitivity and specificity were assessed using serum-banked sera from the Pasteur Institute in New Caledonia with a commercial microplate ELISA kit taken as the reference. The prospective field part of the study was performed in the Yap State Hospital during a DENV-1 outbreak. The particle agglutination test showed a sensitivity of 76.7% and a specificity of 95.2%. For the strip assay, those characteristics were 73.3% and 83.3% respectively. The use of the particle agglutination test in Yap confirmed its easy handling and suggested a higher sensitivity. This new particle agglutination test is useful in the Pacific islands because of higher sensitivity and specificity and operational flexibility in remote locations.”

The full article is accessible in PDF through the PPHSN website at: http://www.spc.int/phs/PPHSN/Services/LabNet/activities.htm