Detection of Group A Streptococcus in Pharyngeal Swab Specimens by Use of the AmpliVue GAS Isothermal Helicase-Dependent Amplification Assay

Matthew L Faron; Nathan A Ledeboer; Paul Granato; Judy A Daly; Kristina Pierce; Preeti Pancholi; Timothy S Uphoff; Blake W Buchan

doi:10.1128/JCM.01085-15

Detection of Group A Streptococcus in Pharyngeal Swab Specimens by Use of the AmpliVue GAS Isothermal Helicase-Dependent Amplification Assay

J Clin Microbiol. 2015 Jul;53(7):2365-7. doi: 10.1128/JCM.01085-15. Epub 2015 May 13.

Authors

Matthew L Faron¹, Nathan A Ledeboer¹, Paul Granato², Judy A Daly³, Kristina Pierce⁴, Preeti Pancholi⁵, Timothy S Uphoff⁶, Blake W Buchan⁷

Affiliations

¹ Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
² Laboratory Alliance of Central New York, Syracuse, New York, USA.
³ University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Primary Children's Medical Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
⁴ University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
⁵ The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
⁶ Marshfield Labs, Marshfield Clinic, Marshfield, Wisconsin, USA.
⁷ Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA [email protected].

Abstract

We evaluated the clinical performance (sensitivity and specificity) of the AmpliVue group A Streptococcus (GAS) isothermal helicase-dependent amplification assay using 1,192 pharyngeal swab specimens. AmpliVue GAS assay results were compared to the results of routine throat cultures on selective streptococcal blood agar plates. The sensitivity and specificity of the AmpliVue GAS assay were 98.3% (95% confidence interval [CI], 95 to 100%) and 93.2% (95% CI, 91 to 95%), respectively.

Publication types

Evaluation Study
Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

Humans
Molecular Diagnostic Techniques / methods*
Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques / methods*
Pharynx / microbiology*
Sensitivity and Specificity
Streptococcal Infections / diagnosis*
Streptococcus pyogenes / genetics
Streptococcus pyogenes / isolation & purification*