A comparative evaluation of the performance of commercially available rapid immunochromatographic tests for the diagnosis of XXXX in Bangladesh.

@entity1 @entity138 @entity234 @entity15277 @entity378 @entity4759
BACKGROUND: Accurate and early diagnosis of @entity234 ( @entity234 ) is a prerequisite for proper treatment and restricting disease propagation in @entity4759 foci. An @entity15277 antigen-based immunochromatographic test is now recommended for its diagnostic accuracy and operational feasibility at point of care. In @entity4759 regions of Bangladesh, @entity15277 or rKE16 antigen-based Rapid Diagnostic Tests (RDTs) are routinely performed on whole blood for diagnosis of @entity234 . However, manufacturer's instructions require use of serum. Therefore, we wanted to assess whether the diagnostic accuracy of these RDTs is as good on whole blood as on serum. METHODS: We evaluated and compared the sensitivity and specificity of five different commercially available RDTs on whole blood and on serum. We enrolled 30 @entity234 @entity1 , 35 @entity4759 healthy controls and 30 @entity378 ( @entity378 ) @entity1 in our study from Mymensingh, a hyper- @entity4759 region in Bangladesh. RESULTS: The sensitivity of all RDTs ranged between 96.67 % (95%CI: 82.72-99.44 %) and 100 % (95%CI: 96.34-100 %). The specificity ranged between 93.85 % (95%CI: 84.97-98.26 %) and 98.46 % (95%CI: 91.69-99.74 %), except for the Onsite leishmania Ab (Rev B) kit which showed markedly lower specificity (31.25-58.46 %). There was no significant difference in sensitivity and specificity between blood and serum. The Cohen kappa index (k >0.97) indicated excellent agreement. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude from the study that the use of blood for @entity138 in lieu of serum is appropriate for diagnosis of @entity234 in peripheral @entity4759 regions provided the manufacturer recommendations are followed and the @entity138 is of good quality.
