Mt. Parisi et Pm. Tierno, EVALUATION OF NEW RAPID COMMERCIAL ENZYME-IMMUNOASSAY FOR DETECTION OF CRYPTOSPORIDIUM OOCYSTS IN UNTREATED STOOL SPECIMENS, Journal of clinical microbiology, 33(7), 1995, pp. 1963-1965
Sixty-six stool specimens were evaluated by the ProSpecTR Cryptosporid
ium rapid enzyme immunoassay (EIA) (Alexon, Sunnyvale, Calif.). Approx
imately 2 g of untreated stool suspended in buffer was filtered throug
h membranes labelled with anti-Cryptosporidium-specific antigen antibo
dy. Anti-Cryptosporidium-specific antigen antibody was labelled with b
iotin, horseradish peroxidase conjugated to streptavidin, and tetramet
hylbenzidine, and each labelled antibody was added in sequence to the
membranes. Each membrane had a positive control and test area. EIA res
ults were compared with those of the modified acid-fast procedure. Twe
nty-three specimens were positive by the initial acid-fast procedure a
nd the EIA. Forty-two specimens were negative by the initial acid-fast
test and the EIA. One specimen was negative by the initial acid-fast
test and positive by the EIA (sensitivity, 100%; specificity, 98.5%).
This technique is easy to use by comparison with the cumbersome, labor
-intensive, and more subjective microscopic methods currently availabl
e, and its sensitivity equals that of current microscopic methods.