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Development and evaluation of co-agglutination test to detect rotavirus antigens in stools of patients with diarrhoea
M N Islam1, M A Hossain, M Rahman
1Department of Virology, Institute of Postgraduate Medicine and Research, Dhaka Bangladesh.
Insights
A new co-agglutination test offers a low-cost, rapid method for detecting rotavirus, the leading cause of infant diarrhea. This diagnostic tool shows promise for widespread clinical use in resource-limited settings like Bangladesh.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Clinical Diagnostics
- Microbiology
Background:
- Rotavirus is a primary cause of acute gastroenteritis in children globally.
- Diagnostic challenges in Bangladesh hinder rotavirus surveillance due to high costs and limited expertise.
- There is a need for accessible and affordable rotavirus detection methods.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and evaluate a cost-effective co-agglutination test for rotavirus antigen detection in stool specimens.
- To compare the performance of the co-agglutination test against a commercial ELISA kit.
Main Methods:
- A co-agglutination test was developed using protein-A secreting Staphylococcus cowan strain 1 coated with anti-rotavirus antibodies.
- The test was validated against a commercially available ELISA kit using 1332 stool samples.
- Key performance metrics including sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values were calculated.
Main Results:
- The co-agglutination test detected rotavirus antigen in 20.72% of samples, compared to 15.77% by ELISA.
- Compared to ELISA, the co-agglutination test demonstrated a sensitivity of 76.19% and specificity of 89.66%.
- Positive and negative predictive values were 57.97% and 95.26%, respectively.
Conclusions:
- The co-agglutination test is a simple, rapid, and suitable method for screening rotavirus infections.
- This low-cost diagnostic approach has potential for adoption in clinical settings, particularly in resource-limited areas.
- The study highlights the feasibility of improving rotavirus diagnostics in regions like Bangladesh.
Abstract:
Rotavirus is the most common cause of acute diarrhoea in infants and children in both the developed and developing countries including Bangladesh. Information about rotavirus diarrhoea in Bangladesh is insufficient primarily due to the lack of diagnostic facilities due to the high cost of reagents and equipment and lack of skilled personnel. A simple, suitable and less costly technique of co-agglutination test using protein-A secreting staphylococci was developed and evaluated against a commercially available ELISA kit to detect rotavirus antigen in stools of patients with diarrhoea. Staphylococcus cowan strain 1 was grown and coated with rabbit antisera raised against RV5 and SA11 rotavirus strains. The antibody-coated staphylococci were agglutinated specifically by rotavirus present in faecal samples within one or two minutes. A total of 1332 stool specimens were tested by co-agglutination and ELISA, of which 210 (15.77%) were positive by ELISA and 276 (20.72%) by co-agglutination test. Compared to ELISA, sensitivity of co-agglutination test was 76.19%, specificity 89.66% and predictive values of a positive and a negative test were 57.97% and 95.26% respectively. The results indicate that the co-agglutination test is a simple and suitable technique for rapid screening of rotavirus infection which could be adopted in clinical practice.
