Browsing by Author "Kasubi, Mabula Joseph"

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    Evaluation of ELISA based diagnostic tests for detection of HSV-2 specific antibodies in sera from patients in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2001) Kasubi, Mabula Joseph
    In order to investigate and compare the accuracy and usefulness of diagnostic tests for detection of HSV-2 specific antibodies, a cross- sectional study of sera derived from HIV-1 infected individuals, STD patients and pregnant women were tested for the presence of anti- HSV-2 specific antibodies using Peptide 55, Gothenborg and Gull EUSAs. Diagnostic sensitivities and specificities of the tests were determined and compared. Highest sensitivity and specificity, 94.6% and 90.5% for the Gull ELISA and 94.6% and 90.5% for the Peptide 55 ELISA were found. At the given cut-off values, Gull and Peptide 55 ELISAs performed best. The accuracy of the tests was compared by using receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) methodology. A fair to good test agreement was found between the tests, with k values ranging from 0.266 to 0.603. For determination of prevalence, only the calculated prevalence was considered because no definitive test was used in the present study. On the basis of the Baye’s theorem, the mean calculated prevalences of HSV-2 antibodies were 82.5%, 49% and 51.7% among HIV-1 infected individuals, STD patients and pregnant women, respectively. The results show that the Gull and Peptide 55 ELISAs are useful tools for the detection of type-specific HSV-2 antibodies. However, for determination of the definitive HSV-2 serostatus, confirmatory assays such as Western blotting may still be necessary.