Evaluation of Enterocheck WB - a rapid test for diagnosis of typhoid fever

Abstract

Blood culture although continues to be the gold standard for diagnosis of typhoid fever, its applications for routine diagnosis of typhoid fever is restricted because of several limitations. Widal test has been used extensively as a laboratory tool for diagnosis of typhoid fever in most laboratories, but it is laborious, time consuming and may not be positive in early stages and is to be interpreted judiciously. In the recent times, several other serological tests other than Widal test have been described and evaluated. In the present study, we evaluated Enterocheck WB, an immunochromatographic rapid test for diagnosis of typhoid fever, in Widal positive cases. This test detected IgM antibodies and was found to have a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 94.6%. The positive and negative predictive values of Enterocheck WB was 84.9% and 96.5% respectively. The test serves as an useful alternative to other conventional tests for rapid diagnosis of typhoid fever.