Evaluation of a new latex agglutination test for detecting human rotavirus in faeces

Four methods for detecting rotaviruses (latex agglutination, electron microscopy, immunofluorescence and ELISA) have been compared on 57 faecal samples from children with acute diarrhoea. Complete agreement among the four techniques was found in 38 samples. One sample was positive by ELISA and latex agglutination but negative by the other two. For all the other samples there was agreement among three of the techniques only. In a blocking ELISA test, samples positive by ELISA only, turned out to be falsely positive. Assuming true positive or negative for those samples for which at least three techniques were in agreement, electron microscopy, ELISA and latex agglutination were more sensitive (96 per cent) than immunofluorescence (84 per cent). Electron microscopy was the most specific (96.4 per cent), followed by immunofluorescence (92.9 per cent), ELISA (89.4 per cent) and latex agglutination (85.9 per cent).