title: Serologic and molecular biologic methods for SARS-associated coronavirus infection, Taiwan.
abstract: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) has raised a global alert since March 2003. After its causative agent, SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV), was confirmed, laboratory methods, including virus isolation, reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and serologic methods, have been quickly developed. In this study, we evaluated four serologic tests ( neutralization test, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA], immunofluorescent assay [IFA], and immunochromatographic test [ICT]) for detecting antibodies to SARS-CoV in sera of 537 probable SARS case-patients with correlation to the RT-PCR. With the neutralization test as a reference method, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 98.2%, 98.7%, 98.7%, and 98.4% for ELISA; 99.1%, 87.8%, 88.1% and 99.1% for IFA; 33.6%, 98.2%, 95.7%, and 56.1% for ICT, respectively. We also compared the recombinant-based western blot with the whole virus-based IFA and ELISA; the data showed a high correlation between these methods, with an overall agreement of >90%. Our results provide a systematic analysis of serologic and molecular methods for evaluating SARS-CoV infection.
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Control, Department of Health, Taiwan, Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ho-Sheng
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Shu-Chun
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Chiu
authors.forename: Tsan-Chang
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Tseng
authors.forename: Szu-Fong
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jih-Hui
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Yu-Hen
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Mei-Ching
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Tsuey-Li
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Wen-Zieh
authors.initials: WZ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Tian-Lin
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Ferng
authors.forename: Kai-Hung
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Li-Ching
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Li-Li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jyh-Yuan
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Hour-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Shun-Pi
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Shih-Yan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Shih-Yan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ting-Hsiang
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ih-Sen
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Su
mesh_terms: D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002845:Chromatography; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D000956:Antigens, Viral; D011994:Recombinant Proteins