A retrospective study comparing agar plate culture, indirect immunofluorescence and real-time PCR for the diagnosis of Strongyloides stercoralis infection

作者：Buonfrate Dora; Perandin Francesca; Formenti Fabio; Bisoffi Zeno

来源：Parasitology, 2017, 144(6): 812-816.

DOI：10.1017/S0031182016002559

<jats:title>SUMMARY</jats:title><jats:p><jats:italic>Strongyloides stercoralis</jats:italic>is a parasite that can cause death in immunocompromised people. A proper diagnosis is hence essential. The real-time polymerase-chain reaction (RT–PCR) is a novel, promising diagnostic method, that detects the DNA of the parasite in stool samples. In this retrospective study, we compared the sensitivity of agar plate coproculture (APC), an in-house immunofluorescence test (IFAT) and an in-house RT–PCR for the diagnosis of<jats:italic>S. stercoralis</jats:italic>infection. The study sample was composed by 223 samples. Samples resulting positive to APC, IFAT and RT–PCR were 20, 140 and 25, respectively. When sensitivity was calculated against a composite reference standard, serology confirmed the best performance (sensitivity 95%), followed by RT–PCR (57%) and APC (45%). In conclusion, in a non-endemic setting, serology is the best screening method, while the combination of APC and RT–PCR does not seem a reasonable approach to increase sensitivity. Both methods can have a role as confirmatory tests for selected cases.</jats:p>

• 出版日期2017-5