Enzyme immunoassay for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis from the cervix

An enzyme immunoassay for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis antigens was compared with isolation of the organism in cycloheximide-treated McCoy cells using duplicate cervical swab specimens from 514 women. Chlamydia trachomatis was isolated after subculturing from 45 of 514 (8.8%) specimens, while the enzyme immunoassay, Chlamydiazyme detected chlamydial antigens in 37 of 45 (82.2%) of those women. Chlamydiazyme was as sensitive as primary isolation for detecting total infections. The specificity of Chlamydiazyme was 98.1%. The predictive values of a positive and negative Chlamydiazyme test compared with isolation after subculturing was 80.4 and 98.3%, respectively. Overall, 497 of 514 (96.7%) samples were identified correctly by Chlamydiazyme. Thus, Chlamydiazyme is a simple and rapid test that eliminates many of the problems encountered by isolation procedures.