Evaluation of Brucella dipstick assay for the diagnosis of acute brucellosis.

The diagnostic value of the dipstick assay was evaluated by comparison with Rose Bengal (RB), serum aglutination tests (SAT) and 2 mercaptoethanol test (2-ME) on consecutive serum samples submitted because of suspicion of brucellosis. Serum samples of 232 patients with suspected brucellosis that were submitted for laboratory confirmation were included in the study. Twelve out of 232 serum samples were detected as positive with the dipstick assay. All of these 12 patients had positive RB and SAT results. In 16 RB positive samples dipstick test was negative. Fifteen of these samples had insignificant (titer<1/160) or borderline (titer 1/160) SAT results and the clinical symptoms of these patients were consistent with chronic brucellosis rather than acute or recent-onset brucellosis. Dipstick assay is an easy-to-perform assay that can be used for the diagnosis of acute brucellosis especially in rural areas where brucellosis is widespread and in settings where well-equipped laboratories are not available.