Sensitivity and specificity of three ELISA-based assays for discriminating primary from secondary acute dengue virus infection. |
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| Authors: | Vanda Akico Ueda Fick de Souza Adriana Fumie Tateno Renato Reis Oliveira Renan B Domingues Evaldo Stanislau Araújo Gustavo W Kuster Cláudio Sérgio Pannuti |
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| Affiliation: | Laboratório de Virologia (LIM-HC)--Instituto de Medicina Tropical de S?o Paulo e Departamento de Moléstias Infecciosas e Parasitárias da Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de S?o Paulo, S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil. |
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| Abstract: | BACKGROUND: Discrimination between primary and secondary dengue virus infection traditionally has been performed using the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. However, this test has practical limitations and disadvantages. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the ability of three ELISA-based methods (IgG avidity test, IgM/IgG ratio and IgG titer) to discriminate primary from secondary dengue infection. STUDY DESIGN: Serum samples from convalescent-phase patients with confirmed acute, primary (n=46) or secondary (n=33) dengue virus infection were tested using three ELISA-based methods. A ROC curve was employed to establish the cut-off points and to evaluate the ability of the three methods to distinguish between acute, primary and secondary dengue virus infection. RESULTS: All three assays exhibited sensitivity and negative predictive values of 100% for defining secondary infection. The specificity and positive predictive values were respectively 97.8% and 93.7% for the IgG avidity test, 95.7% and 88.2% for the IgM/IgG ratio assays, and 97.8% and 93.7% for the IgG titer assay. CONCLUSION: All three ELISA-based assays proved reliable tools for discriminating between acute, primary and secondary dengue virus infection when using serum samples from convalescent-phase patients. |
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