title: An evaluation of the Behring Diagnostics Enzygnost Syphilis enzyme immunoassay.
abstract: The Enzygnost Syphilis (Behring Diagnostics, Marburg, Germany) was evaluated (i) using sera already characterised using the rapid plasma reagin test and the Treponema pallidum hemagglutination test (TPHA); (ii) prospectively; (iii) using sera which are recognised as causing "problems" with enzyme immunoassays. The Enzygnost Syphilis was found to have a reproducibility of 98.6% and a sensitivity of 99.5% using sera known to be TPHA-reactive. When tested prospectively, the false reactive rate was 3.2%. These results show that the assay performs sufficiently satisfactorily for its introduction as a screening assay for evidence of syphilis infection in our population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, South Western Area Pathology Service, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maidment
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D005189:False Positive Reactions; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques / Q000592:standards; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013588:Syphilis Serodiagnosis / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic