Lessons from a comparison of immuno-chromatographic and chemiluminescent micro-particle immunoassay in the diagnosis of syphilis.

OBJECTIVE

To synthesize lessons from comparison of results obtained from the immuno-chromatographic SD Bioline testing method and the chemiluminescent micro-particle immunoassay Architect in the diagnosis of syphilis at Livingstone Central hospital laboratory.

RESULTS

The specificity and sensitivity of SD Bioline syphilis 3.0 against the chemiluminescent immunoassay using the Architect syphilis Treponema pallidum (TP) was 85.3% and 91.3% respectively with substantial agreement between the two test methods (88%, ĸ  = 0.76; p < 0.0005). We recommend further comprehensive study with a larger sample size and clinical details to ascertain the validity of our findings. We also recommend using a non-treponemal test with the current treponemal tests being used to aid diagnosis.