A highly-sensitive rapid test for the diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis: BD veritor ™ system

The diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis is very important to prevent complications such as acute rheumatic fever. Throat culture is the gold standard method for the diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis, however, rapid antigen tests (RAT) have been developed for faster diagnosis. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of the BD Veritor ™ System (USA) rapid antigen assay in detecting Group A Streptococcus (GAS) in throat swab samples.

A total of 12,391 throat swabs, taken with a double swab, were evaluated. The BD Veritor ™ System was used for the detection of GAS antigen. Simultaneous throat cultures were performed.

Throat culture yielded positive for 18.5% (2291) while 19.1% (2369) were positive with RAT. The sensitivity of BD Veritor ™ System was determined as 94.1% and specificity as 97.9%, while positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy were determined as 91.0%, 98.7%, 97%, respectively. When all age groups were included, the rate of GAS positivity was 18.5% and this ratio increased to 27.3% in the five-15 age group.

Our study, conducted with quite a large number of patients, yielded high sensitivity for the BD Veritor System. When the RAT is negative, the necessity of culture for pediatric patients should not be forgotten.