LATEX PARTICLE AGGLUTINATION-TEST IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF HAEMOPHILUS-INFLUENZAE TYPE-B, STREPTOCOCCUS-PNEUMONIAE AND NEISSERIA-MENINGITIDIS-A AND NEISSERIA-MENINGITIDIS-C MENINGITIS IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN
Pam. Camargos et al., LATEX PARTICLE AGGLUTINATION-TEST IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF HAEMOPHILUS-INFLUENZAE TYPE-B, STREPTOCOCCUS-PNEUMONIAE AND NEISSERIA-MENINGITIDIS-A AND NEISSERIA-MENINGITIDIS-C MENINGITIS IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN, Journal of clinical epidemiology, 48(10), 1995, pp. 1245-1250
Citations number
38
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Medicine, General & Internal
The knowledge of purulent meningitis etiology is essential in deciding
the immediate therapy; in developing countries, however, the etiologi
cal agent identification does not reach 60% of the cases. A comparativ
e study using the latex particle agglutination test (LPAT) in cerebros
pinal fluid (CSF) for the diagnosis of meningitis due to Haemophilus i
nfluenzae type b, Streptococcus pneumoniae or Neisseria meningitidis A
and C was carried out in Belo Horizonte MG, Brazil. CSF culture was u
sed as a gold-standard. Two hundred and ninety-nine children, ranging
from 3 months to 14 years of age, were included in the investigation.
One hundred and forty-four presented a positive CSF culture for the ab
ove mentioned bacteria; the remaining presented meningitis due to othe
r organisms (other bacteria or viral) or a normal CSF. The sensitivity
and the specificity of LPAT was 95.7 and 100.0% for N. meningitidis C
, 95.2 and 100.0% for H. influenzae type b and 86.5 and 100.0% for S.
pneumoniae, respectively. When all three organisms were considered sim
ultaneously, the sensitivity and the specificity was 93.0 and 100.0%,
respectively. Taking into consideration a realistic estimate of diseas
e prevalence in the community where the diagnostic test is being used,
the positive predictive value and the posttest probability were estim
ated as 36.7 and 47.1% for children < 5 years and as 21.3 and 35.1% fo
r children < 14 years of age, respectively. LPAT is a useful diagnosti
c test for meningitis due to the studied pathogens, especially in deve
loping countries where laboratory facilities are limited.