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Abstract

Rapid Diagnostic Tests Apply for Pediatric Infections at Outpatient Clinic Setting by Hiroshi Ushijima, Aksara Thongprachum, Dinh Nguyen Tran, Tsuguto Fujimoto, Nozomu Hanaoka, Shoko Okitsu, Sayaka Takanashi, Masashi Mizuguchi, Satoshi Hayakawa

Background: Early identification of the etiology of infection is beneficial. Most infections are treated as outpatients. However, facilities for rapid diagnosis are not available in clinic settings.
Methods: We applied Immunochromatography (IC) and Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) methods to rapidly diagnose pathogens among 31 children with respiratory infection and 12 with gastroenteritis at a clinic in Saitama prefecture, Japan. Pathogens were then screened by multiplex conventional and real-time PCRs and bacterial culture.
Results: Respiratory pathogens were found in 64.5%. Despite the narrow spectrum, rapid tests identified pathogens in 28.6% of cases with a high agreement rate of 89.3% with PCR. Gastroenteritis pathogens were found in 66.7%. E. coli was positive in 3 cases and all were negative for verotoxin by LAMP. The agreement rate of IC and PCR assay was high, 100%.
Conclusions: IC and LAMP are reliable and suitable methods in limited-resource settings for early pathogenic identification, which will help appropriate management, avoid unnecessary intervention, and cost saving.

DOI: 10.7754/Clin.Lab.2014.140814