Point of care testing evaluation of lateral flow immunoassay for diagnosis of Cryptococcus Meningitis in Kenya, 2017

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) against latex agglutination (LA), India ink and culture in point-of-care diagnosis of Cryptococcus meningitis (CM). We conducted a cross-sectional study among patients with suspected CM at Mbagathi Hospital, Nairobi, April-July 2017. Results: Of 124 capillary blood and serum and 99 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples, the agreement between LFA and LA on serum was 94.4%, kappa (0.88), sensitivity (100%) and specificity (91%). LFA and LA on CSF, was 97.9%, kappa (0.96), sensitivity (100%) and specificity (96%). LFA and India ink was 96.9%, kappa (0.94), sensitivity (100%) and specificity (94.1%). On CSF culture, the agreement was 72.7%, kappa (0.43), sensitivity (100%) and specificity (64%). The agreement of LFA on capillary blood, serum and CSF was 100% with kappa (1.00), sensitivity and specificity of 100%