Evidence-based comparism of conventional sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and lateral flow (LAT) method in the detection of human rotavirus pathogen for prompt monitoring and robust surveillance outcome

Abstract

Introduction: Rotavirus has been known to be the causative agent of some cases of gastroenteritis across the world. A disease common in infants and young children ≤5 years of age, mostly in developing countries. This study was aimed at comparing the effectiveness of the sandwich ELISA and lateral flow method for the detection of rotavirus infection. Materials and methods: The human rotavirus sample (Code Number: BO218) at a concentration of 1x108/ml) was obtained from Dako A/S, Denmark and subsequently, a 1/4 serial dilution was performed to obtain varying concentrations. The already confirmed positive rotavirus samples obtained from the Nimi Briggs Hospital of the Rivers State University, Port Harcourt were used to evaluate and validate the sensitivity of both methods. Data obtained from ELISA method were analysed statistically using Microsoft excel and the spearman test to analyse the linear relationship between the absorbance and concentration of rotavirus expressed in number of rotavirus particles per ml. Results: The evidence-based results outcome showed that the ELISA approach was more sensitive to detecting the presence of rotavirus in the samples at the concentration of 381.5 rotavirus particle per ml, while that of LAT detected the presence of rotavirus at the concentration of 1,562,500 rotavirus particle per ml. The plot of absorbance and rotavirus particles following the serial dilution was plotted using Microsoft excel and the relationship between concentration and rotavirus was established. The result of the plot of the mean absorbance values against the rotavirus concentration (number of rotavirus per ml) showed an exponential increase in the absorbance value until a plateau was established as the concentration approached 1.0 × 108/ml of rotavirus in the solution. Also, the correlation of the absorbance and rotavirus concentration and a straight-line graph was plotted showing a correlation value of R2 =0.4505 with an intercept at 1.4236. Discussion: However, the ELISA is more robust, though very expensive for monitoring and surveillance of diarrhoea cases unlike the LAT method which is very cheap, with less expertise required, thus would be recommended for health care facilities in our remote communities.