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Commercial latex agglutination test for rapid diagnosis of group B streptococcal infection in infants

Although latex agglutination assays for detection of a variety of bacterial antigens in body fluids from patients with systemic infection have been shown to be useful as rapid diagnostic techniques, lack of commercial availability has restricted their application. The Streptex latex test kit for the detection of group B streptococcal (GBS) antigen in admission body fluid specimens was evaluated for sensitivity and specificity in 54 infants with meningitis and in 10 infants with normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) parameters. GBS antigen was detected in 22 of 28 (78.6%) CSF specimens by latex agglutination and in 23 of 28 (82.1%) by countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis. Antigen was present in 21 of 28 (latex agglutination) and 19 of 26 (countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis) CSF specimens after the initiation of antimicrobial therapy. Heat-labile factors accounted for nonspecific agglutination reactions with latex suspensions other than group B in 3 of 28 CSF samples from patients with GBS meningitis. These nonspecific reactions were readily eliminated by heating specimens for 10 min at 100 degrees C. Fifteen patients with GBS meningitis had admission serum and urine samples collected in addition to CSF. Antigen was detected by latex agglutination and countercurrent immunoelelectrophoresis in 14 of 15 (93.3%) and 13 of 15 (86.7%) concentrated urine specimens, respectively, and in 12 of 15 (80%) CSF specimens and 4 of 15 (27%) sera by each method. These findings indicate that the Streptex latex test is a rapid, sensitive, and readily available method for detection of GBS antigen in admission body fluid specimens from infants with meningitis.