title: Development of immunoglobulin G enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for the serodiagnosis of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
abstract: Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is an emerging infectious disease caused by a novel SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV). The clinical characteristics are high fever, rapidly progressive diffuse pneumonitis and respiratory distress. It is highly infectious through intimate contact or direct contact with infectious body fluids. Outbreaks within communities and hospitals have been reported. Development of rapid and reliable diagnostic tools is urgently needed. We developed an immunoglobulin G (IgG) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), using whole virus antigen of SARS-CoV. Eighty-six serum samples collected from patients who were hospitalized for other causes were examined to determine the cut-off O.D. value. The cut-off O.D. value was defined as 0.175 by calculating the mean O.D. value of the 86 sera plus 3 standard deviations. To determine the sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA, 56 positive sera and 204 negative sera were tested. The sensitivity was 96.4% and the specificity was 100%. The results suggest that the IgG ELISA using whole virus antigen of SARS-CoV has a high sensitivity and specificity in detecting SARS IgG antibodies. This IgG ELISA is a powerful tool for serodiagnosis of SARS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Pei-Lan
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.forename: Po-Ren
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Hsueh
authors.forename: Luan-Yin
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Chun-Yi
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Chuan-Liang
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.forename: Yu-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: Hsiang-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Fu-Yuan
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chin-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Lung-Ji
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: T-C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Li-Min
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis*; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000276:immunology*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012698:Serologic Tests / Q000379:methods*; D045169:Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology*; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D000956:Antigens, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G