Commercial Rapid Test Kit Research Articles

Sensitivity of commercial rapid test kit to pork contamination in processed foods

Guaranteeing halal products has now become a necessity, especially for food products. This is intended to ensure that the food produced is not contaminated with non-halal ingredients, including pork. Pork contamination in processed meat foods such as meatballs is still often found. Various tests can be done to detect the presence of pork in processed foods. One of them is a rapid test using the LFIA method. This test is widely used because it is more efficient, economical, and easy to prepare samples. A rapid pork contamination test kit (XEMA) has been circulating in Indonesia. In the research, the sensitivity of this rapid test kit was tested on processed meat foods with various concentrations of pork and variations in the main ingredients. The color test shows that the simulated samples of beef meatballs without added pork are dark greyish white, as are the simulated samples with concentrations of 1% and 10%. Meanwhile, samples with concentrations of 20% and 40% have a paler color. Meanwhile, there was no significant difference in the variation in pork concentration in meatballs with the main ingredients of chicken and fish. For smell and texture, there were no significant differences in the simulated samples, both the control and samples with varying concentrations. From testing, it is known that the test kit can detect the presence of pork up to a concentration of 10% in samples, with the main ingredients being beef, chicken, or fish. These results indicate that this rapid test kit can well detect pork contamination in processed food samples.

Seroprevalence of dirofilariasis in dogs in Sukabumi Regency

Dirofilariasis is a serious zoonotic disease in dogs. This study aimed to measure the prevalence and determine the risk factors of dirofilariasis in the Sukabumi Regency. A total of 152 blood samples were collected from dogs in two sub-districts in Sukabumi which have different topographic characteristics, namely Jampang Tengan District which is a hilly area, and Cisolok District which is a coastal area. Blood serum was examined using the commercial rapid test kit CHW Ag Test Kit 2.0 ® Bionote to detect the presence of the Dirofilaria immitis adult worm antigen. The results showed that the seroprevalence of dirofilariasis in dogs in the Sukabumi Regency was 20.4%. Areas with hilly characteristics have a higher prevalence of dirofilariasis than coastal areas do. The incidence of dirofilariasis in the Sukabumi Regency was not influenced by sex, method of keeping, or age of the dog.

Knowledge and Risk Factors of Hepatitis B Disease Among Women Attending Antenatal Care at Arua Regional Referral Hospital, Arua, Uganda

Background Hepatitis B is a highly infectious disease with a prevalence of 4.3% among people aged 15-64 years, with a prevalence of 5.6% in men compared to 3.1% in women in Uganda. Mother-to-child transmission accounts for nearly 50% of new cases per year, and infants who acquire hepatitis B disease before 5 years have a 90% chance of progressing to chronic hepatitis B infection. Objective The study assessed the knowledge and risk factors of hepatitis B disease among women attending antenatal care (ANC) at Arua Regional Referral Hospital (ARRH), Uganda. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out at ANC at ARRH. Convenience sampling was used, and a sample size of 384 was calculated. Each participant was evaluated using a structured questionnaire and screened for HBsAg using commercial rapid test kits. Assessment of knowledge was performed using a hepatitis B basic knowledge summary score. Data analysis was carried out using MICROSOFT EXCEL-2013 and STATA version 14 packages. Results Poor knowledge levels of hepatitis B disease stood at 17.9%, while 82.1% of the pregnant women had adequate knowledge. A prevalence of 2.05% was obtained from the participants in the study. None of the assessed risk factors was significantly associated with HBsAg positivity. Conclusions The study participants were knowledgeable to a great extent about hepatitis B disease, with 82.1% exhibiting good knowledge of hepatitis B disease. There are gaps in knowledge, especially among the low educated groups, which need to be addressed to improve knowledge levels of hepatitis B disease among these categories in the community. The results show a relatively healthy population given the low prevalence of 2.05% seen in the participants of the study. The absence of a risk factor associated with hepatitis B disease in this study does not imply that there are no risk factors in the community around ARRH. Further studies are recommended to assess more risk factors for hepatitis B disease in the community

Prevalence of Ehrlichia canis, Borrelia burgdorferi and Dirofilaria immitis in Sivas Stray and Shelter Dogs

Aim: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the prevalence of vector-transportable Ehrlichia canis, Borrelia burgdorferi and Dirofilaria immitis in dogs in Sivas province. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 100 dogs. Breed, age and sexes of dogs were determined and physical examinations were performed and serum samples were collected for the diagnosis of the diseases. The commercial rapid test kit SNAP* 4DX* Plus (IDEXX Laboratories) was used for the detection of Ehrlichia canis, Borrelia burgdorferi and Dirofilaria immitis in dogs. Results: In this study, it was determined that 1% of 100 dogs examined were Ehrlichia canis and 2% of them were seropositive to Dirofilaria immitis, while Borrelia burgdorferi seropositive animals were not detected. Conclusion: As a result, it was determined that Ehrlichia canis, Borrelia burgdorferi and Dirofilaria immitis, which can be transmitted to dogs by vectors, were observed at low rates in Sivas province. However, at the same time, necessary protective measures should be taken against these diseases that can be transmitted by vectors in this region.

Applications of Recombinant Monoclonal Antibodies against Filarial Antigen Proteins.

This study investigated the applications of recombinant monoclonal antibodies (rmAbs) produced against two recombinant filarial proteins of diagnostic value. Ab5B and Ab3A were produced against recombinant BmSXP, and Ab4 and Ab4-fragment crystallizable (Fc) against recombinant BmR1. Ab5B and Ab4-Fc were found to be useful as quality control (QC) reagents for two commercial rapid test kits, such as Brugia RapidTM and BLF Rapid® (Reszon Diagnostics International Sdn. Bhd., 47600 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia), respectively. The two rmAbs reacted positively with the corresponding recombinant proteins lined on the nitrocellulose strips of the cassette tests, thus may replace or reduce the need for patient serum samples as positive controls for QC of the commercial kits. They were also successfully conjugated to gold nanoparticles and reacted positively with the test lines containing the corresponding recombinant proteins when directly applied to the cassette tests. The gold-conjugated reagents can be used to confirm the antigenicity of test lines after the storage of the rapid tests for a prolonged period or under unfavorable conditions. Furthermore, Ab5B and Ab3A were shown to be able to capture the target recombinant proteins through immunoaffinity purification, enabling their use for applications that need very highly purified proteins. In conclusion, this study demonstrated several potential uses of rmAb proteins produced against recombinant filarial proteins.

Seroprevalence of Major Transfusion-Transmissible Infections among Foreign Departing Employees from Itahari, Nepal.

Transfusion-Transmissible Infections (TTIs) include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and syphilis that are transmitted from person to person through parenteral, administration of blood or blood products leading to serious health problems. The present study was lab based cross-sectional study conducted from February 2018 to August 2019 to investigate the prevalence of hepatitis B, HIV, hepatitis C, and syphilis among the foreign departing employees from Itahari, Sunsari, Nepal. The samples were screened for the presence of anti-HIV IgG, HBsAg, anti-syphilis and anti-HCV IgG using commercial rapid test kits following standard protocols. A total of 4260 samples processed, the overall seroprevalence of TTIs was found to be 1.22% (52/4260). Seroprevalence of HIV was found to be 0.05% (2/4260), HBV was found to be 0.53% (23/4260), HCV was found to be 0.18% (8/4260) and syphilis was found to be 0.45% (19/4260). Among the transfusion transmissible infections in individuals going for foreign employment, the most prevalent was found to be hepatitis B (0.53%). In overall, the TTIs infection was most prevalent in the age group of 24-29 (0.35%) and 30-35 (0.35%) years. Further investigation including studying the prevalence of TTIs in general population is required to address the issue and to formulate proper preventive, diagnosis and treatment procedures of these infections.

Performance analysis of commercial rapid tests for serum troponin detection

ABSTRACT Introduction: Rapid tests represent an important diagnostic tool, providing results in a short period of time and eliminating the use of large automated equipment. Objective: To evaluate the performance of five rapid test kits for troponin I detection in serum. Materials and methods: Samples from 100 patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction (AMI) were selected from a hospital in Barbacena, MG, Brazil. They were tested in the five troponin I commercial rapid test kits and the results were compared with the study reference method (quantitative chemiluminescent immunoassay). Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV) and correlation coefficients of the rapid tests against the reference method were defined. Results: The kits from Abon®, Interteck®, Medtest® and Wama® presented the same performance, reaching equal levels of sensitivity (98.08%), specificity (100%), PPV (100%), NPV (97.96%), and correlation coefficient (0.99). The Eco Diagnostica® kit presented lower sensitivity (82.69%), low correlation coefficient (0.91) and NPV (84.21%), not reaching ideal levels even though lying within the confidence interval. Discussion: The results obtained with the Abon®, Interteck®, Medtest® and Wama® test kits corroborate pre-existing literature data on the diagnostic accuracy of rapid tests for troponin detection. These tests are allowed for immediate decision making by physicians and can be used to reduce unnecessary hospitalization time and costs associated with a suspected AMI. Conclusion: The kits from Abon®, Interteck®, Medtest® and Wama® showed excellent diagnostic performance, what makes them an important diagnostic tool in smaller laboratories without automated equipment.

Antibody-free digital influenza virus counting based on neuraminidase activity

There is large demand for a quantitative method for rapid and ultra-sensitive detection of the influenza virus. Here, we established a digital influenza virus counting (DIViC) method that can detect a single virion without antibody. In the assay, a virion is stochastically entrapped inside a femtoliter reactor array device for the fluorogenic assay of neuraminidase, and incubated for minutes. By analyzing 600,000 reactors, the practical limit of detection reached the order of 103 (PFU)/mL, only 10-times less sensitive than RT-PCR and more than 1000-times sensitive than commercial rapid test kits (RIDTs). Interestingly, neuraminidase activity differed among virions. The coefficient of variance was 30–40%, evidently broader than that of alkaline phosphatase measured as a model enzyme for comparison, suggesting the heterogeneity in size and integrity among influenza virus particles. Sensitivity to oseltamivir also differed between virions. We also tested DIViC using clinical gargle samples that imposes less burden for sampling while with less virus titre. The comparison with RIDTs showed that DIViC was largely superior to RIDTs in the sensitivity with the clinical samples although a few false-positive signals were observed in some clinical samples that remains as a technical challenge.

Role of Preschool and Primary School Children in Epidemics of Influenza A in a Local Community in Japan during Two Consecutive Seasons with A(H3N2) as a Predominant Subtype.

Enhanced influenza surveillance was implemented to analyze transmission dynamics particularly driving force of influenza transmission in a community during 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons in Odate City, Japan. In these two consecutive seasons, influenza A(H3N2) was the predominant influenza A subtype. Suspected influenza cases were tested by commercial rapid test kits. Demographic and epidemiological information of influenza positive cases were recorded using a standardized questionnaire, which included age or age group, date of visit, date of fever onset, and the result of rapid test kit. Epidemiological parameters including epidemic midpoint (EM) and growth rate (GR) were analyzed. In 2012/13 season, numbers of influenza A positive cases were significantly lower among preschool (212 cases) and primary school (224 cases) children than in 2011/12 season (461 and 538 cases, respectively). Simultaneously, total influenza A cases were also reduced from 2,092 in 2011/12 season to 1,846 in 2012/13 season. The EMs in preschool and primary school children were earlier than EMs for adult and all age group in both 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons. The GR in 2012/13 season was significantly lower than that in 2011/12 season (0.11 and 0.18, respectively, p = 0.003). Multiple linear regression analysis by school districts revealed that GRs in both seasons were significantly correlated with the incidence of school age children. Our findings suggest that preschool and primary school children played an important role as a driving force of epidemics in the community in both 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons. The reduction of total influenza A cases in 2012/13 season can be explained by decreased susceptible population in these age groups due to immunity acquired by infections in 2011/12 season. Further investigations are needed to investigate the effect of pre-existing immunity on influenza transmission in the community.

Evaluation of Two Commonly Used Commercial Immunochromatographic and ELISA Screening Kits for the Detection of Anti-HCV Antibodies among Patients in North Central Nigeria

Background: Hepatitis C Virus infection presents a major public health threat globally. The advent of different immunoassays for the detection of specific markers for the diagnosis of the infection since the discovery of the virus is a positive development, but their varied degrees of sensitivity and specificity is a matter of public health concern. Aim: To evaluate the efficiency of two commercial rapid test kits for the detection of antiHCV antibodies against a third generation Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA) used as a gold standard. Methodology: A total of 500 patient plasma samples screened by ELISA (Autobio Diagnostics, China) were subjected to further screening using two rapid test (immuno chromatographic) strips supplied by Global Diagnostics (USA) and Wondfo Biotech Diagnostic Products (China). Results: Of the 500 samples, anti HCV was detected in 79(15.80%) by ELISA, 59(11.80%) by Wondfo strip, whereas only 45(9.00%) by Global strip method. This gave Wondfo Kit a sensitivity of 75.0%, specificity of 99.0%, overall accuracy of 95.2%, positive predictive value of 93.6%, negative predictive value of 95.4% positive likelihood

Comparison of Two Commercial Screening Kits for Detection of Anti-HCV Antibody among Adult Patients in Osogbo, Nigeria

Aims: A commercial rapid test kit for anti-Hepatitis C Virus (anti-HCV) detection was evaluated and compared for diagnosis of hepatitis C by detection of immunoglobulin G(IgG) antibodies against a third generation Enzyme Immunoassay(EIA) as gold standard. Methodology: A total of 560 patient serum samples were subjected to rapid screening with rapid test (immunochromatographic) strip supplied by Global Diagnostics and commercially prepared IgG capture EIA by DIA.PRO, Italy. Results: Of the 560 samples, anti HCV was detected in 31(5.54%) by ELISA, whereas

Evaluation of a commercial rapid test kit for detecting bovine enteric pathogens in feces

Recently a commercial antigen-capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit in the form of a dipstick (Bovine Enterichek, Biovet Inc.) was made available to bovine practitioners and producers for the rapid detection of Betacoronavirus 1 (BCV-1), Rotavirus A (RV-A), Escherichia coli K99(+), and Cryptosporidium parvum in feces from diarrheic calves. The diagnostic performance of Bovine Enterichek was evaluated in comparison with a multiplex real-time polymerase chain reaction assay (mrtPCR). One hundred fecal samples were procured from diagnostic submissions to Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and were used for the assessment. The agreement quotient (kappa) in results for each pathogen between Bovine Enterichek and mrtPCR were 0.095 (BCV-1), 0.521 (RV-A), 0.823 (E. coli K99( + )), and 0.840 (C. parvum). In comparison to mrtPCR, the diagnostic sensitivity of Bovine Enterichek was 60.0%, 42.3%, 71.4%, and 81.5%, and the diagnostic specificity was 51.4%, 100%, 100%, and 98.6% for BCV-1, RV-A, E. coli K99( + ), and C. parvum, respectively. The current study suggested that Bovine Enterichek can be a rapid test tool in the field for detection of RV-A, C. parvum, or E. coli K99(+) in feces from calves at acute stage of clinical disease. However, test results for BCV-1 by the kit should be interpreted with caution due to low specificity and sensitivity of the kit.

Rapid antigen detection in the diagnosis of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) virus in Nigeria

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI) is an infectious disease of agroeconomic and public health importance. The outbreak that occurred in Nigeria (2006–2008) was devastating to the poultry industry and raised public health concerns. In the course of its control, rapid laboratory confirmation of suspected cases in poultry was essential for prompt mobilization of control logistics for depopulation and decontamination of affected premises. Commercial rapid test kit was evaluated in the diagnosis of highly pathogenic AI (HPAI) as a preliminary to virus isolation. Between 2006 and 2007, 382 cases were tested out of which 149 were positive by rapid antigen detection. Virus isolation yielded 171 positive cases. The relative diagnostic sensitivity of Anigen Rapid AIV Ag test was 84.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 78.1–88.9%), whereas the relative diagnostic specificity was 97.7% (95% CI, 94.2–99.1%). Rapid antigen detection is a useful technique for prompt diagnosis of HPAI for early detection and containment.

Seroprevalence of dengue in Trinidad using rapid test kits: A cord blood survey

A cross-sectional sero-epidemiological study was conducted to determine the prevalence of dengue in Trinidad. Two commercial rapid test kits, PanBio Dengue Duo IgM and IgG Rapid Strip Test and the Bio-Check Plus Dengue G/M Cassette Test (Brittney) were used. The immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (FOCUS Technologies, California) was used as the control. One hundred and twenty five cord blood samples were collected (46 from Mt. Hope Women's Hospital (MH) and 79 from the San Fernando General Hospital (SF)). All blood samples were tested in accordance with the two rapid kits and ELISA assay manufacturer's instructions. From 125 cord blood samples, the IgG FOCUS ELISA results showed 93.5 and 95% infections at MH and SF, respectively. Whereas the Brittney and PanBio kits showed 10.9 and 5.1%, and 26.1 and 50.6% for MH and SF, respectively. Based on the FOCUS ELISA (control) assays, the combined seroprevalence rate from north and south Trinidad was 94.4%. IgG and IgM sensitivity and specificity levels were higher in the PanBio than Brittney test kits. The high seroprevalence rates observed in Trinidad are discussed to stimulate more research to explain this phenomenon and to prevent the Southeast Asian scenario from developing in the Americas.

Assessment of MIST Alert™, a Commercial Qualitative Assay for Detection of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Toxins in Bivalve Molluscs

A recently developed commercial rapid test kit (MIST Alert) was assessed for determination of the presence of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins in shellfish. Several commercially important shellfish species obtained from the UK shellfish toxin monitoring program, containing a range of total PSP toxicities as determined by the mouse bioassay (MBA), were tested. The kit detected toxin in all samples containing the European Community tolerance level of 80 microg saxitoxin (STX) equivalents/100 g shellfish flesh as determined by the MBA. With one exception, the kit detected toxin in all samples that contained >40 microg STX equivalents/100 g according to the MBA. Among samples in which the MBA did not detect toxin, the kit disagreed in 25% of the tests, although further analysis by liquid chromatography (LC) and MBA of some samples confirmed the presence of toxins. These results suggest that MIST Alert may be suitable as an initial screen for PSP toxins as part of routine monitoring programs, thereby greatly reducing the number of MBAs. Trials were also performed by nonscientific personnel to evaluate the ease of use and interpretation of results obtained by MIST Alert. The results indicated that the kits could be readily used and accurately interpreted by individuals with no technical or scientific background.

Differentiation of selected members of the family Neisseriaceae (Alysiella, Eikenella, Kingella, Simonsiella and CDC groups EF-4 and M-5) by carbohydrate fingerprints and selected phenotypic features

On the basis of nucleic acid relationships, the family Neisseriaceae consists of the genera Neisseria, Kingella, Simonsiella and of Alysiella filiformis, Eikenella corrodens, and the CDC groups EF-4 and M-5. Differentiation, especially of the new members of the family, by conventional phenotypic characteristics is difficult and in some cases leads to doubtful results. On the other hand, cellular components proved to be suitable for the characterization of bacterial taxa. We investigated the cellular carbohydrates derived from whole cell hydrolysates of the above mentioned taxa with the exception of Neisseria by gas chromatography/mass-spectrometry. The analysis revealed characteristic patterns for all taxa considered, although with some species of which only few strains were investigated so far only preliminary results could be established. With the method used, the carbohydrate analysis could be completed within six hours starting from a pure culture. All strains investigated exhibited a common pattern with ribose, arabinose, glucose, and galactose. Qualitative and quantitative differences in contents of fucose, sorbose, rhamnose, threose, heptose, galactosamine and an amino sugar similar to glucosamine discriminated members of the taxa investigated. To achieve a taxonomically precise differentiation of the species investigated by conventional phenotypic features as available in commercial rapid test kits, these tests should be completed by the carbohydrate analysis technique presented.