Key words: Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis, rapid diagnosis
Table 1 Strains evaluated
Table 3 Comparison of sensitivity (CFU/mL) of 8 rapid diagnostic kits for detecting group A streptococcus to Streptococcus pyogenes isolated from clinical source Streptococcus pyogenes (0304-1265) T-1 Streptococcus pyogenes (0309-610) T-2 Streptococcus pyogenes (0312-22) T-28 Streptococcus pyogenes (0406-611) T-4 Streptococcus pyogenes (0406-1254) T-12 ++: Strong-positive +: Positive +-: The trace Negative at the test band position were observed -: unit: CFU (colony forming unit)/ml
Table 5 Comparison of sensitivity of 8 rapid diagnostic kits for detecting group A streptococcus to Group A streptococcusother than Streptococcus pyogenes isolated from clinical source Streptococcus anginosus (SM2003-1) Streptococcus constellatus (SM2004-1) Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (2003X-1) Streptococcus dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis (0402-2366) + +: Strong-positive +: Positive + -: The Negative trace at the test band position were observed -: unit: CFU/ml
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Evaluation of Rapid Diagnostic Kits for the Detection of Group A Streptococcus to Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus spp. with Lancefield's Group A Antigen Noriko MITSUNO 1), Tomohiro Nobuyoshi TAMAGAWA 1), Juichi Eiji IKEDA 1), Kazuko HAMASAKI 1), Chihiro KATSUKAWA 2) & Michiko OKUYAMA 1) Department of Clinical Laboratory, Osaka-City General Hospital, 1) Department of Microbiology, Osaka Prefectural Institute of 2) Public Health We studied the basic performance of eight rapid diagnostic kits for the detection of Group A streptococcus by immunochromatography under the same conditions. Kits were the QuickVue Dipstick Strep A (Sumitomo Seiyaku Biomedical Co., Ltd.), TESTPACK Plus STREP A (ABBOTT JAPAN Co., Ltd), CLEAVIEW STREP A (Nihon Schering K. K.), QuickVue STREP A (Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd), ImmunoCard STAT! STREP A (TFB, INC.), DIPSTICK 'Eiken' STREP A (Eiken Chemical Co., Ltd.), Rapid Testa Strep A (Daiichi Pure Chemical Co., Ltd.), and StatCheck Strep A (KAINOS Laboratories, Inc.). Four of these kits, i.e. QuickVue Dipstick Strep A, TESTPACK Plus STREP A, Rapid Testa Strep A, while the Anginosus group and S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis with Lancefield' s group A antigen showed sensitivity very similar to S. pyogenes. Of these strains, S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis formed a Ĉ-hemolytic colony resembling that of S. pyogenes on sheep blood agar, and was sensitive to bacitracin. It is thus indispensable to identify the colony using biochemical tests such as the PYR (pyrrolidonylarylamidase production) test. In using rapid diagnostic kits for the detection of Group A streptococcus, it is important to rule out the possibility of Group A streptococcus other than S. pyogenes in throats. Severe invasive group-g streptococcal infections are increasing recently. Concerning S. dysgalactiae subsp. equisimilis, it is especially important to conduct these identification tests.