Comparison of a dipstick enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with commercial assays for detection of Japanese encephalitis virus-specific IgM antibodies.
BACKGROUND
Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a major public health concern in Asia including India.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate an in-house developed dipstick enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test vis-à-vis two commercial kits for detection of JE virus-specific IgM antibodies.


METHODS
Comparative study carried out in Research and Development centre.


METHODS
A total of 136 specimens comprising 84 serum and 52 CSF samples were tested by in-house dipstick ELISA, Pan-Bio IgM capture ELISA (Pan-Bio, Australia) and JEV CheX IgM capture ELISA (XCyton, India).


RESULTS
The overall agreement among all three tests was found to be 92% with both serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. The sensitivity of the dipstick ELISA was found to be 91% with serum and 89% with CSF samples respectively. The specificity of the dipstick ELISA with reference to both commercial assays was found to be 100% in serum and CSF samples in this study.


CONCLUSIONS
The in-house dipstick ELISA with its comparable sensitivity and specificity can be used as a promising test in field conditions since it is simple, rapid and requires no specialized equipment.
Shrivastva
A
A
Division of Virology, Defense R and D Establishment, Jhansi Road, Gwalior, MP - 474 002, India. ambujshrivastava@hotmail.com
Tripathi
N K
NK
Parida
M
M
Dash
P K
PK
Jana
A M
AM
Lakshmana Rao
P V
PV
D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood* / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D004664:Encephalitis Virus, Japanese / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004672:Encephalitis, Japanese / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D007194:India; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic