title: The role of a commercial latex agglutination test in the diagnosis of group B streptococcal infection in neonates.
abstract: An open prospective multicenter study was conducted in order to evaluate the Wellcogen Strep B latex agglutination test in the diagnosis of group B streptococcal (GBS) infections in neonates. Twenty-three (5.9%) of 391 urine specimens and 5 (1.2%) of 404 sera assayed were positive. The results of the urine tests corresponded to a sensitivity of 0.78 for bacteremic, 0.50 for non-bacteremic and 0.53 for all GBS associated (bacteremic, non-bacteremic and suspected) infections. After 20-25-fold concentration of urine specimens the sensitivity increased to 1.0 for bacteremic, 0.67 for non-bacteremic and 0.78 for all GBS associated infections. The specificity of the test was high (0.93 for concentrated urines), and the predictive value of a positive test (Pvpos) was 0.68. A positive latex test was highly predictive of positive surface cultures for GBS (Pv pos = 0.83 after concentration).
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Microbiology, County Hospital, Västerås, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thore
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Faxelius
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hedin
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Johnsson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ringertz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schröder
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schwan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thid
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohrner
mesh_terms: D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D013292:Streptococcus agalactiae / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014556:Urine / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein