Laboratory evaluation of a rapid diagnostic test for Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A.

Aude Terrade (1) , Jean-Marc Collard (2) , Farida Nato (3) , Muhamed-Kheir Taha (1)

1 CC-OMS - WHO-CC - Centre Collaborateur de l'OMS pour les méningites bactériennes - WHO Collaborating Center Bacterial Meningitis
2 CERMES - Centre de Recherche Médicale et Sanitaire (Niamey, Niger)
3 Production de Protéines Recombinantes et d'Anticorps (Plate-Forme)

BACKGROUND: Epidemics of meningococcal meningitis occur periodically in the African 'meningitis belt' and are mainly, but not only, due to serogroup A. METHODS: We tested a dipstick as a rapid detection test (RDT) to detect serogroup A using 401 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. RESULTS: The detection limits were 10(5) CFU/ml with sensitivity and specificity for detecting serogroup A in CSF samples of 88% and 99%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The new RDT can be used in field surveillance of meningococcal meningitis to help characterize meningitis cases particularly after introduction of the conjugate vaccine against serogroup A.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Meningitis; Neisseria meningitidis; Rapid test; Serogroup A

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Life Sciences [q-bio]; Human health and pathology; Infectious diseases

Aude Terrade, Jean-Marc Collard, Farida Nato, Muhamed-Kheir Taha. Laboratory evaluation of a rapid diagnostic test for Neisseria meningitidis serogroup A.. Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2013, 107 (7), pp.460-461. ⟨10.1093/trstmh/trt041⟩. ⟨pasteur-02088923⟩