title: Comparison of the polymerase chain reaction and serologic tests for diagnosis of septicemic melioidosis.
abstract: For diagnosis of melioidosis, we compared polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based DNA detection and three serologic methods with the culture method currently used as gold standard. The diagnostic values of the serologic methods were evaluated in 130 patients. All these patients resided in an endemic area. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) gave slightly higher specificity (86.2%) than a dot immunoassay (DOT) (85.3%), but was superior to an indirect hemagglutination assay (IHA) (79.8%). The sensitivities of the DOT (85.7%) and ELISA (71.4%) were considerably higher than that of IHA (61.9%). However, the PCR was the most sensitive (95.2%) and specific (91.7%). Nevertheless, DOT and ELISA are more practical for local hospitals. With the high negative predictive value of both the ELISA (94.0%) and DOT (96.9%) in a high prevalence area, clearly these methods can rule out most of the non-melioidosis patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Technology, Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Sermswan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wongratanacheewin
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Anuntagool
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sirisinha
mesh_terms: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D016470:Bacteremia / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016957:Burkholderia pseudomallei / Q000276:immunology*; D017931:DNA Primers; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000592:standards; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008554:Melioidosis / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000592:standards; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D017931:DNA Primers