title: Preliminary report on the application of the coagglutination test for rapid diagnosis of cholera in the upper Solimöes River area in the Brazilian Amazon region.
abstract: The conventional diagnosis of cholera depends on complex bacteriological procedures. Coagglutination is a simple, rapid, inexpensive and efficient technique for the presumptive diagnosis of cholera. Of 840 fecal samples from suspected cases of cholera examined at Tabatinga (State of Amazonas, Brazil) 31 (3.6%) were confirmed by culture and 29 of them were also positive by the coagglutination test performed directly on the fecal enrichment broth (alkaline peptone water). About 90% of the positive coagglutination results were obtained after 5-h incubation at 37 degrees C and the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the method were 93.5%, 99% and 98.8%, respectively. Relative to the culture results, coagglutination yielded two false-negative and eight false-positive results. The coagglutination test for cholera can provide a rapid and reliable tool for epidemiological studies and for the planning of more effective measures against cholera.
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Microbiologia e Imunologia, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: da-Silva
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Caldas
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests; D001938:Brazil; D002771:Cholera / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors