scholarly journals False-Positive Results Obtained with the Alexon ProSpecT Cryptosporidium Enzyme Immunoassay

1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 1582-1583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirk M. Doing ◽  
Jill L. Hamm ◽  
Jo Ann Jellison ◽  
Jessica A. Marquis ◽  
Cindy Kingsbury

Cryptosporidium is known to cause diarrhea in immunocompromised patients and is also associated with outbreaks of disease due to food-borne and waterborne parasites. Traditional procedures, involving iodine staining of wet mounts of stool sediments and trichrome staining, lack the sensitivity to detectCryptosporidium. Special staining procedures, such as the modified acid-fast and safranin stains, are generally employed. Less labor-intensive antigen detection assays have simplified detection; however, careful attention to local epidemiology is important because false-positive tests occur. Here, we report two incidents involving 62 false-positive results obtained with the Alexon ProSpecTCryptosporidium enzyme immunoassay, which were deemed false-positive based on negative results obtained from extensive microscopic examinations.

2002 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 335-337 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cassandra D. Salgado ◽  
Heidi L. Flanagan ◽  
Doris M. Haverstick ◽  
Barry M. Farr

Background:Occupational exposure to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an important threat to healthcare workers. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines recommend prompt institution of prophylaxis. This requires (1) immediate prophylaxis after exposure, pending test results that may take more than 24 hours in many hospitals; or (2) performance of a rapid test. The Single Use Diagnostic System (SUDS)® HIV-1 Test is used to screen rapidly for antibodies to HIV type 1 in plasma or serum, with a reported sensitivity of more than 99.9%. We used this test from January 1999 until September 2000, when it was withdrawn from the market following reports claiming a high rate of false-positive results.Methods:We reviewed the results of postexposure HIV testing during 21 months.Results:A total of 884 SUDS tests were performed on source patients after occupational exposures (883 negative results, 1 reactive result). The results of repeat SUDS testing on the reactive specimen were also reactive, but the results of enzyme immunoassay and Western blot testing were negative. A new specimen from the same patient showed a negative result on SUDS testing. This suggested a specificity of 99.9%. In the 4 months after SUDS testing was suspended, there was 1 false-positive result on enzyme immunoassay for 1 of 132 source patients (presumed specificity, 99.2%).Conclusion:Use of the SUDS test facilitated rapid and accurate evaluation of source specimens, obviating unnecessary prophylaxis.


1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (02) ◽  
pp. 273-278
Author(s):  
Kenneth K Wu ◽  
John C Hoak ◽  
Robert W Barnes ◽  
Stuart L Frankel

SummaryIn order to evaluate its daily variability and reliability, impedance phlebography was performed daily or on alternate days on 61 patients with deep vein thrombosis, of whom 47 also had 125I-fibrinogen uptake tests and 22 had radiographic venography. The results showed that impedance phlebography was highly variable and poorly reliable. False positive results were noted in 8 limbs (18%) and false negative results in 3 limbs (7%). Despite its being simple, rapid and noninvasive, its clinical usefulness is doubtful when performed according to the original method.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-44
Author(s):  
Judy G. Saslow ◽  
Ernest M. Post ◽  
Carol A. Southard

Objective. As neonatal discharge before 24 hours of life becomes commonplace, the rejection of congenital hypothyroidism (CH) screening specimens obtained too early has created the need for numerous additional tests. We sought to determine whether the specimens obtained before 24 hours could be used safely. Methods. During a 31-day period we measured thyrotropin in all thyroid-screening specimens that had been obtained before 24 hours. We also examined the early specimens from every infant diagnosed in New Jersey with CH during 1993 or 1994. Results. Among the 663 specimens, those obtained at or before 12 hours and those from infants with birth weights less than 2500 g had too many low thyroxine results to be useful. Among the 515 specimens obtained at more than 12 to 24 hours from newborns weighing 2500 g or more, 37 (7%) had low thyroxine levels and 12 (2.3%) had thyrotropin levels of 20 µIU/mL (mU/L) or higher. Four hundred seventy-one of the 515 infants had subsequent specimens obtained at more than 24 hours, and none of the results were abnormal. There was no child weighing more than or equal to 2500 g who was diagnosed with CH in 1993 and 1994 whose specimen obtained at 24 hours or less was normal. Conclusions. Accepting specimens obtained at more than 12 to 24 hours from infants weighing 2500 g or more would have resulted in more than the usual number of false-positive results but no false-negative results. This would have decreased the requests for additional specimens by more than 90%.


2004 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 387-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHI-HUA CHEN ◽  
HWIA CHENG DING

A colony blot immunoassay was developed for the rapid identification of Bacillus cereus using antibodies against the 28.5-kDa cell-surface antigen of B. cereus. Suspect colonies from plates were blotted onto a Whatman #541 membrane, dried, and fixed by UV irradiation. The membrane was then immersed in an anti- B. cereus antibody-horseradish peroxidase conjugate for 60 min. After washing and reacting with 4-chloro-1-naphthol and H2O2, the appearance of purple spots indicated the presence of B. cereus. This assay effectively identified 61 of 62 B. cereus strains tested. Among 38 non– B. cereus strains, which were other Bacillus spp. (19 genera), 36 gave true-negative results, and 2 showed false-positive results. The sensitivity and specificity for B. cereus were 98.4 and 94.7%, respectively. The present assay is easy to use, and the rapid identification of B. cereus can be completed in 2.5 h.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nastya Kharlamova ◽  
Nicky Dunn ◽  
Sahl K. Bedri ◽  
Svante Jerling ◽  
Malin Almgren ◽  
...  

Patients with chronic inflammatory diseases are often treated with immunosuppressants and therefore are of particular concern during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Serological tests will improve our understanding of the infection and immunity in this population, unless they tests give false positive results. The aim of this study was to evaluate the specificity of SARS-Cov-2 serological assays using samples from patients with chronic inflammatory diseases collected prior to April 2019, thus defined as negative. Samples from patients with multiple sclerosis (MS, n=10), rheumatoid arthritis (RA, n=47) with or without rheumatoid factor (RF) and/or anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies (anti-CCP2) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE, n=10) with or without RF, were analyzed for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies using 17 commercially available lateral flow assays (LFA), two ELISA kits and one in-house developed IgG multiplex bead-based assay. Six LFA and the in-house validated IgG assay correctly produced negative results for all samples. However, the majority of assays (n=13), gave false positive signal for samples from patients with RA and SLE. This was most notable in samples from RF positive RA patients. No false positive samples were detected in any assay using samples from patients with MS. Poor specificity of commercial serological assays could possibly be, at least partly, due to interfering antibodies in samples from patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. For these patients, the risk of false positivity should be considered when interpreting results of the SARS-CoV-2 serological assays.


2018 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 1162-1178
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Lewandowicz-Uszyńska ◽  
Piotr Naporowski ◽  
Gerard Pasternak ◽  
Danuta Witkowska

The human immune system’s response to infection is closely related with the type of pathogen. First, a rapid, metabolically inexpensive and non-specific innate immunity is induced, then a specific acquired immunity is activated. In bacterial infections caused by intracellular pathogens, the main role is played by cellular response. In infections caused by bacterial extracellular pathogens, a crucial role is played by antibodies. The clinical symptoms of bacterial and viral infections very often are similar, which is why diagnosing them based only on medical history and physical examination is insufficient. To identify the etiological factors of infections differentiating media, biochemical tests, molecular methods and serological tests are used. The detection of microorganisms or their genetic material can be performed within a short time after the occurrence of an infection. The detection of antibodies is possible only in the appropriate time called the serological window. In a serological diagnostic of infections there are problems with an appropriate interpretation of obtained results. Cross-reactivity can give false positive results for the diagnosis of Chlamydophila pneumonia infection. The problem with the detection of Borrelia burgdorferi infection can be caused by a simultaneous coinfection with different spirochetes, syphilis, mononucleosis or HIV. In serological diagnostics of bacterial infections, the administration of antibiotics to patients before taking serum samples can be responsible for false negative results. Another reason for such results can be a weak humoral response in infected patients. In viral infections, false positive results can be caused by a coinfection of different viruses, especially from the same family or by bacterial or protozoal coinfections or by autoimmune diseases. False-negative results in viral infections often are caused by the early phase of an infection. To properly recognize an etiological factor of infection it is necessary to use an appropriate method, precision of test and collect samples at the appropriate time.


1999 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthias Schröter ◽  
Heinz-Hubert Feucht ◽  
Peter Schäfer ◽  
Bernhard Zöllner ◽  
Susanne Polywka ◽  
...  

The rate of false-positive hepatitis C virus enzyme immunoassay results was determined to be at least 10% among 1,814 reactive serum samples based on (i) negative results in an independent confirmation assay, (ii) negative PCR results, and (iii) no patients developing clinical or biochemical signs of hepatitis during a 1-year follow-up.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Shuren Feng ◽  
Joanne Mei ◽  
Lu Yang ◽  
Ping Luo ◽  
Xiaonan Wang ◽  
...  

Ninhydrin-based fluorometric quantification of phenylalanine is one of the most widely used methods for hyperphenylalaninemia (HPA) screening in neonates due to its high sensitivity, high accuracy, and low cost. Here we report an increase of false positive cases in neonatal HPA screening with this method, caused by contamination of blood specimen collection devices during the printing process. Through multiple steps of verification, the contaminants were identified from ink circles printed on the collection devices to indicate the positions and sizes of blood drops. Blood specimens from HPA-negative persons collected on these contaminated collection devices showed positive results in the fluorometric tests, but negative results in tandem mass spectroscopy (MS/MS) experiments. Contaminants on the collection devices could be extracted by 80% ethanol and showed an absorption peak around 245 nm, suggesting that these contaminants may contain benzene derivatives with similar structure to phenylalanine. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of the ethanol extracts from contaminated collection devices identified two prominent peaks specifically from the devices. Methyl-2-benzoylbenzoate (MBB, CAS#606-28-0) was found as one of the major chemicals from contaminated collection devices. This report aims to remind colleagues in the field of this potential contamination and call for tighter regulation and quality control of specimen collection devices.


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