Issue 15, 2019

Improved detection of group A Streptococcus during thermal contrast amplification vs. visual reading of clinical rapid diagnostic tests

Abstract

Group A Streptococcus causes significant health care costs and burdens. In the form of a mild infection, streptococcal pharyngitis is difficult to diagnose and manage while having the potential to progress to life-threatening invasive infections. The unsatisfactory performance of rapid diagnostic tests frequently requires follow-up high-sensitivity confirmatory testing, causing additional time and cost. Improving rapid detection sensitivity will lead to more timely and accurate diagnosis. In previous work, we demonstrated that our robust, easy-to-use thermal contrast amplification reader improves traditional rapid diagnostic test strip sensitivity 8-fold by testing dilutions of control solutions. In order to facilitate translation, we now present a clinical study to demonstrate the impact of a thermal contrast amplification reader on strep throat detection. Our results show that the TCA reader identifies over 50% of clinical false negative samples, indicating that the reader could significantly reduce the need for confirmatory strep throat tests in a primary care setting.

Graphical abstract: Improved detection of group A Streptococcus during thermal contrast amplification vs. visual reading of clinical rapid diagnostic tests

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
28 Sep 2018
Accepted
18 Mar 2019
First published
21 Mar 2019

Anal. Methods, 2019,11, 2013-2017

Improved detection of group A Streptococcus during thermal contrast amplification vs. visual reading of clinical rapid diagnostic tests

Y. Wang, E. Louwagie, D. Larkin, S. Sankey, D. R. Boulware and J. C. Bischof, Anal. Methods, 2019, 11, 2013 DOI: 10.1039/C8AY02125B

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