151. Analytical and clinical performance of a Chikungunya qRT-PCR for Central and South America.
- Author
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Edwards T, Del Carmen Castillo Signor L, Williams C, Larcher C, Espinel M, Theaker J, Donis E, Cuevas LE, and Adams ER
- Subjects
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Child, Child, Preschool, Ecuador, Female, Guatemala, Humans, Infant, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies, Retrospective Studies, Sensitivity and Specificity, Young Adult, Chikungunya Fever diagnosis, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction methods, Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction methods
- Abstract
Chikungunya was introduced into the Americas in 2015 causing a pandemic across the continent. Testing during the acute phase of infection relies on qRT-PCR, but available assays have a number of limitations. A qRT-PCR assay specific to the chikungunya E1 gene was designed using sequence data from contemporary strains. A probit analysis established the 95% limit of detection as 19.6 copies per reaction. We compared the assay with a US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) chikungunya qRT-PCR as the reference standard. The assay had a sensitivity and specificity of 98.4% and 100% in 90 samples retrospectively collected in Guatemala. In a further 74 febrile samples prospectively collected in Ecuador and Guatemala the test had a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 98.4%, respectively. Sequencing the nsp4 gene of the discordant positive sample indicated the presence of chikungunya RNA, and mismatches to the primer binding sites of the CDC assay., (Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2017
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