Short paper

Multicentre evaluations of two new rapid IgG4 tests (WB rapid and panLF rapid) for detection of lymphatic filariasis

Rahmah Noordin¹, Makoto Itoh², Eisaku Kimura², Rohana Abdul Rahman¹, Balachandran Ravindran³, Rohela Mahmud⁴, Taniawati Supali⁵ and Mirani Weerasooriya⁶

¹Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine, Universti Sains Malaysia (USM), Malaysia

²Department of Parasitology, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Aichi-ken, Japan

³Immunobiology Laboratory, Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India

⁴Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia

⁵Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia, Indonesia

⁶Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka

Filaria Journal 2007, 6:9doi:10.1186/1475-2883-6-9

Published:	26 October 2007

Abstract

In the global effort to eliminate lymphatic filariasis (LF), rapid field-applicable tests are useful tools that will allow on-site testing to be performed in remote places and the results to be obtained rapidly. Exclusive reliance on the few existing tests may jeopardize the progress of the LF elimination program, thus the introduction of other rapid tests would be useful to address this issue. Two new rapid immunochromatographic IgG4 cassette tests have been produced, namely WB rapid and panLF rapid, for detection of bancroftian filariasis and all three species of lymphatic filaria respectively. WB rapid was developed using BmSXP recombinant antigen, while PanLF rapid was developed using BmR1 and BmSXP recombinant antigens. A total of 165 WB rapid and 276 panLF rapid tests respectively were evaluated at USM and the rest were couriered to another university in Malaysia (98 WB rapid, 129 panLF rapid) and to universities in Indonesia (56 WB rapid, 62 panLF rapid), Japan (152 of each test) and India (18 of each test) where each of the tests underwent independent evaluations in a blinded manner. The average sensitivities of WB rapid and panLF rapid were found to be 97.6% (94%–100%) and 96.5% (94%–100%) respectively; while their average specificities were both 99.6% (99%–100%). Thus this study demonstrated that both the IgG4 rapid tests were highly sensitive and specific, and would be useful additional tests to facilitate the global drive to eliminate this disease.