Cost-effective screening of pooled faecal specimens from XXXX with nosocomial @entity294 for @entity3168 enterotoxin.

@entity1 @entity5176 @entity114 @entity294 @entity3168 @entity2886 @entity28925 @entity581 @entity158
PURPOSE: @entity3168 is a significant cause of nosocomial AAD. The prevalence of @entity3168 enterotoxin ( @entity28925 )-positive stool specimens in hospitalised @entity1 is very low in the Indian setting making the diagnostics very expensive. Therefore, a cost-effective diagnostic approach to screen faecal specimens for @entity28925 was devised. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Faecal specimens from 540 hospitalised @entity1 with various ailments and from 340 healthy subjects were investigated for @entity28925 . An aliquot of pooled faecal supernatants was made by mixing 100  l each of 10 specimens to be tested. Each aliquot was investigated for the presence of @entity28925 by an enzyme immunoassay. A repetition of the assay was done with individual specimens of the pooled aliquots from each positive well as seen visually by colour development. RESULTS: Of the 540 @entity1 specimens tested, 405 (75%) @entity1 were on antibiotics, the predominant ones being @entity2886 , @entity114 , @entity5176 , @entity581 , etc. During the time of sampling, @entity294 was present in 481 (89%), @entity158 in 203 (37.6%) and fever in 242 (44.8%) @entity1 . @entity3168 enterotoxin was positive in nine wells of the 540 pooled test specimens whereas all of the pooled 340 control samples were negative. Repeat of individual specimens comprising the nine wells with positive samples helped to identify the individual @entity1 positive for @entity28925 . CONCLUSION: Only two @entity28925 kits were needed for a total of 880 faecal specimens tested. The cost-effective diagnostic approach to screen faecal specimens for @entity28925 , as described herein will help to save institutional resources.
