Validation of a monoclonal antibody-based immunofluorescent assay to detect Burkholderia pseudomallei in blood cultures

• Published in: Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene Vol. 110; no. 11; pp. 670 - 672
• Main Authors: Dulsuk, Adul, Paksanont, Suporn, Sangchankoom, Adisak, Ekchariyawat, Peeraya, Phunpang, Rungnapa, Jutrakul, Yaowaruk, Chantratita, Narisara, West, T Eoin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01-11-2016
• Subjects: Blood Culture; Burkholderia pseudomallei - isolation & purification; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct; Humans; Melioidosis - diagnosis; Short Communications; Melioidosis; Burkholderia pseudomallei; Diagnosis; Thailand; Bacteremia; Immunofluorescent assay
• ISSN: 0035-9203; 1878-3503
• DOI: 10.1093/trstmh/trw079

Identification of Burkholderia pseudomallei, the cause of melioidosis, using routine methods takes several days. Use of a monoclonal antibody-based immunofluorescent assay (IFA) on positive blood cultures may speed diagnosis.
We tested the diagnostic accuracy of the IFA on 545 blood cultures positive for Gram-negative organisms at Udon Thani Hospital, Thailand, between June 2015 and August 2016.
Sensitivity of the IFA was 100% and specificity was 99.6%. The median decrease in time to pathogen identification between the IFA result and routine methods was 28 h (IQR 25-51), p<0.0001.
The IFA accurately expedites the diagnosis of melioidosis.