Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026
High-throughput Detection Method for Influenza Virus
Published on: February 4, 2012
A highly specific ELISA for diagnosis of 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus infections
Chun-Yi Lu1, Luan-Yin Chang, Pei-Jer Chen
1Department of Pediatrics, National Taiwan University Hospital, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Background/Purpose:
Accurate and timely diagnosis is vital for the clinical management of influenza. A 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1)-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was tested with selected clinical samples.
Methods:
A selection of 90 throat swab samples with various viral loads of 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) were tested.
Results:
Using the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction as a gold standard, the overall sensitivity (0.57) was higher than that of the QuickVue Influenza A+B Test (0.43). The specificity of the ELISA was 1.0 using the selected sample set. The positive and negative predictive values were 1 and 0.4, respectively.
Conclusion:
The ELISA is an easy to perform, highly specific, and fairly sensitive diagnostic tool for the 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) virus infections. A strong correlation was found between viral load and specificity.
Related Concept Videos
01:27Influenza
01:33Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
There are many different types of ELISAs, but they all involve an antibody molecule whose constant region binds an enzyme, leaving the variable region free to bind its specific antigen. Enzyme-substrate reaction allows the antigen to be visualized or quantified.