A novel use of pneumococcal urinary antigen detection kits to identify Streptococcus pneumoniae cultures misidentified by the VITEK-2 system. (April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Khan, Sadia; Hydrose, Sona P; Chandran, Sabthami; Dinesh, Kavitha; Kumar, Anil
• Is Part Of: Tropical doctor. Volume 50:Number 2(2020)
• Page Start: 146
• Page End: 149
• Publication Date: 2020-04
• Subjects: Streptococcus pneumoniae -- pneumococcal antigen test -- pneumococcal urinary antigen detection -- Streptococcus pneumoniae culture -- VITEK 2 misidentification; Tropical medicine -- Periodicals; Medical care -- Developing countries -- Periodicals; Developing Countries -- Periodicals; Tropical Medicine -- Periodicals; Tropische geneeskunde; 616.9883
• DOI: 10.1177/0049475519889717
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0049-4755

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae infections continue to be an important cause of morbidity and mortality in low-and middle-income countries. Differentiating S. pneumoniae from viridans group streptococci is essential to ensure appropriate antibiotic therapy. Conventional microbial identification tests can often misidentify the two groups. We used a common pneumococcal urinary antigen test to identify S. pneumoniae that were misidentified by the VITEK 2. The performance of the test was similar to the pneumococcal latex agglutination test.