Korean J Pediatr Infect Dis.  2006 Nov;13(2):99-105. 10.14776/kjpid.2006.13.2.99.

Comparison of Multiplex Latex Bead Flow Cytometric Analysis and Quellung Analysis in Serotyping Pneumococci

• Choi KM
• Yeon SI
• Kim ES
• Shin JS
• Yong DE
• Lee KW
• Kim DS

• KMID: 2439976
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14776/kjpid.2006.13.2.99

Abstract

PURPOSE
The serotyping results of the Quellung reaction was compared with the newly developed multiplex latex assay and the sensitivity of the Quellung reaction was compared.
METHODS
We checked the serotypes of 35 samples obtained from patients treated at Yonsei University Medical Center using the multiplex latex bead method and compared the results with the serotypes previously obtained via the Quellung reaction.
RESULTS
A decrease in the mean fluorescence was detected in the samples tested with the multiplex assay. Seventeen samples out of the 27 samples agreed to the results of the Quellung assay. We were only able to confirm the concordance of 11 serotypes out of 14 serotypes available.
CONCLUSION
The Quellung reaction is time consuming procedure and prone to errors even with expertise in the procedure, and other alternate methods in serotyping have been investigated to overcome these problems. The newly developed multiplex latex bead assay can test more samples at the same time and has a higher degree of sensitivity. A large scale trial is required to test the sensitivity of the new assay across various serotypes along with efforts to increase the sensitivity of the Quellung assay. The preliminary data suggests that this method may be widely used.

Keyword

Pneumococci; Serotype; Quellung reaction; Multiplex latex bead flow cytometry analysis

MeSH Terms

Academic Medical Centers
Fluorescence
Humans
Latex*
Methods
Microspheres*
Serogroup
Serotyping*
Latex