Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T21:41:03.710Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Evaluation of a two-minute strep A direct swab test (SADST) on patients with pharyngitis at a primary care clinic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

G. F. Araj
Affiliation:
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 24923, Kuwait
H. A. Majeed
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 24923, Kuwait
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A two-minute strep A direct swab test (SADST) was used to detect the presence of Lancefield group A streptococci (GAS) from the throats of 207 patients with pharyngitis at a primary-care clinic. The results were compared with a standard culture method. Fifty-one specimens were positive and 156 specimens were negative for GAS by culture. The SADST had a sensitivity of 96% (49 of 51) and specificity of 98·7% (154 of 156). The predictive values of a positive and negative SADST, for GAS, were 96% and 98·7 % respectively. The SADST showed negative reactions with five specimens containing beta-haemotytic streptococci other than GAS and 34 known stock cultures other than GAS. Our results indicate that SADST is a rapid, simple, convenient and reliable test to use for diagnosis of GAS pharyngitis at primary care clinics, physicians' offices and clinical laboratories.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

References

REFERENCES

Breese, B. B. & Disney, F. A. (1954). The accuracy of diagnosis of beta streptococcal infection on clinical grounds. Journal of Pediatrics 44, 670673.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chang, M. J. & Mohla, C. (1985). Ten-minute detection of group A streptococci in pediatric throat swabs. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 21, 258259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christensen, P., Kahlemter, G. & Johnson, S. (1979). New methods for the serological grouping of streptococci with specific antibodies adsorbed to protein A containing staphylcocci. Infection and Immunity 7, 881885.Google Scholar
Dillon, H. C. & Derrick, C. W. (1974). Recent studies of streptococcal skin and throat infections in Alabama. In Streptococcal Disease and the Community (ed. Haverkorn, M.), pp. 266274. Amsterdam: Excerpta Medica.Google Scholar
Edwards, E. A., Phillips, I. A. & Suiter, W. C. (1982). Diagnosis of group A streptococcal infections directly from throat secretions. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 15, 481483.Google Scholar
El-Batish, M., Mark, A. & Majeed, H. A. (1985). Streptococcal pharyngitis in Kuwait: A pilot study in the community. Journal of Kuwait Medical Association 19, 3945.Google Scholar
Elkholy, A., Sorour, A. H., Houser, H. B., Wannamaker, L. W., Robins, M., Poitras, J.-M. & Krause, R. M. (1973). A three-year prospective study of streptococcal infections in a population of rural Egyptian school children. Journal of Medical Microbiology 6, 101104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
El-Kholy, A., Facklam, R. R., Sabri, G. & Rotta, J. (1978). Serological identification of group A streptococci from throat scrapings before culture. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 8, 725728.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Facklam, R. R. (1980). Streptocci and aerococci. In Manual of Clinical Microbiology (ed. Lennette, E. H., Balows, A., Hanesler, W. J. Jr. and Truant, J. P.), 3rd ed., pp. 88110. Washington D.C.: American Society for Microbiology.Google Scholar
Facklam, R. (1985). A specificity study of kits for detection of group A streptococci directly from throat swabs. Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, C 219, p. 336.Google Scholar
Gerber, M. A. (1983). Micronitrous acid extraction-coagglutination test for rapid diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 17, 170171.Google Scholar
James, L. & McFarland, R. B. (1971). An epidemic of pharyngitis due to a non-hemolytic streptococcus at Lowry Air Force Base. New England Journal of Medicine 284, 750752.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaplan, E. L. (1980). The group A upper respiratory tract carrier state: An engima. Journal of Pediatrics 97, 337354.Google Scholar
Karoui, R., Majeed, H. A., Yousof, A. M., Moussa, M. A., Iskander, S. & Hussain, K. (1982). Haemolytic streptococci and streptococcal antibodies in normal school children in Kuwait. American Journal of Epidemiology 116, 709721.Google Scholar
Koshi, G. & Myers, R. M. (1971). Streptococcal disease in children in South India. Indian Journal of Pathology and Bacteriology 14, 1723.Google Scholar
McCracken, G. H. Jr. (1982). Diagnosis and management of group A Streptococcal pharyngitis. Pediatric Infectious Diseases 1 (Suppl.), 3032.Google Scholar
McCusker, J. J., McCoy, E. L., Young, C. L., Alamares, R. & Hirsch, L. S. (1984). Comparison of Directigen group A strept test with a traditional culture technique for detection of group A beta-hemolytic streptococci. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 20, 824825.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miller, J. M., Phillips, H. L., Graves, R. K. & Facklam, R. R. (1984). Evaluation of the Directigen group A strept test Kit. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 20, 846848.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moody, M. D. (1972). In Streptococci and Streptococcal Diseases (ed. Wannamaker, L. W. and Matsen, J. M.), pp. 182. New York, London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Ogay, K. & Bille, J. (1985). Rapid coagglutination test for the detection of group A streptococci from throat swabs. Abstracts of the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, C 219, p. 33 b.Google Scholar
Otero, J. R., Reyes, S. & Noriega, A. R. (1983). Rapid diagnosis of group A streptococcal antigen extracted directly from swabs by an enzymatic procedure and used to detect pharyngitis. Journal Clinical Microbiology 18, 318320.Google Scholar
Petts, D. N. (1984). Early detection of streptococci in swabs by latex agglutination before culture. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 19, 432433.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slifkin, M. & Gil, G. M. (1984). Evaluation of the culturette brand ten-minute group A strep I.D. technique. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 20, 1214.Google Scholar
Stollerman, G. H. (1975). Rheumatic Fever and Streplococcal Infection, pp. 54, 71. New York: Grune and Stratton.Google Scholar
Tagg, J. R., Dajani, A. S. & Wannamaker, L. W. (1976). Bacteriocins of gram-positive bacteria. Bacteriologic Reviews 40, 722756.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Taranta, A. & Moody, M. D. (1971). Diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis and rheumatic fever. Pediatric Clinics of North America 18, 125143.Google Scholar
Wannamaker, L. W. (1958). Effect of eradication of the infection type of streptococcus by specific therapy on attack rate of acute rheumatic fever. New England Journal of Medicine 259, 6669.Google Scholar