Rapid diagnosis of Chlamydia trachomatis infections by a monoclonal antibody direct immunofluorescence test.
A direct immunofluorescence test on 387 clinical specimens from diverse patient populations with varying prevalence rates was evaluated for the rapid diagnosis of chlamydial infections using fluorescein-labelled monoclonal antibodies for Chlamydia trachomatis. Comparative testing with the conventional cell culture indicated an overall agreement of 98.5% between the two tests and a sensitivity of 92.6%, specificity of 98.4% for the direct IF test. In high prevalence settings the direct IF could undoubtedly be used as a suitable alternative for the definitive, rapid diagnosis of chlamydial infections. In low prevalence patient populations involving primarily asymptomatic patients, sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 97.4% being found indicate the potential usefulness of this rapid performed test but with caution in such settings.
Hossain
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Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
D000328:Adult; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000382:microbiology; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006069:Gonorrhea / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014521:Urethra / Q000382:microbiology
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal