title: The evaluation of colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay (GICA) for rapid diagnosis of influenza A disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A low cost colloidal gold immunochromatographic assay (GICA) for rapid detection of influenza A virus was developed. The assay was evaluated in this study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six hundred and twenty-six patients were enrolled. All patients contributed two pharyngeal swabs, one used for colloidal gold immunochromatographic rapid assay for influenza A virus immediately after the collection of specimen and one used for real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test or virus culture at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) influenza network laboratory.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In reference to viral culture, GICA influenza A test demonstrated a sensitivity of 64%, a specificity of 95% and an overall accuracy of 93%. Consistency between the GICA test and virus culture assay is moderate, with Kappa being 0.46. In reference to RT-PCR, GICA test demonstrated considerable high sensitivity (74%) and specificity (86%), with Kappa value being 0.61 and overall accuracy of 81%. There was no significant difference between GICA test and virus culture/RT-PCR on the detected positive rates of influenza A cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  GICA is a reliable, rapid, convenient and inexpensive test for the screening and diagnosis of influenza A disease. Given its lower cost than other rapid tests, the GICA test has the great potential in the management of influenza A disease in resource-poor countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, The Military General Hospital of Beijing PLA, Beijing, PR China.
authors.forename: Xuehui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hangwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.forename: Lanhua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: You
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity / Q000379:methods*; D046508:Culture Techniques; D005260:Female; D017979:Gold Colloid; D006801:Humans; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017979:Gold Colloid