Abstract

TSORAEVA, Anna  and  MUNOZ DEL CAMPO, Jorge Luis. Application of the rapid test of glutamate decarboxylase for the confirmation of Escherichia coli isolated from clinical samples. Rev Cubana Med Trop [online]. 2005, vol.57, n.3. ISSN 0375-0760.

A rapid test was evaluated in the diagnosis of Escherichia coli in different types of infectious samples, and a comparison with the biomedical methods of traditional identification was made. It has been reported that glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) is very specific (97-99 %) for the identification of Escherichia coli; however, its use is very limited nowadays. 461 clinical samples of different origin were analyzed in a children’s hospital. In general, Escherichia coli, was more frequently isolated  from urine, fecal, vaginal and urethral specimens. The diagnostic sensitivity of the method was 100 %. All the enterotoxigenic and enterohemorrhagical strains of Escherichia coli isolated from feces samples were also positive to the rapid test. The diagnostic specificity was 82.8 %,  due to the false positive results yielded by 34 strains of Shigella of the group D isolated from feces. The advantages of the application of this test compared with other conventional and commercial tests are its low cost, its celerity and its high diagnostic sensitivity, specificity and accuracy, which allow to save personnel, materials and the time used in the identification.

Keywords : GAD; rapid  test; Escherichia coli; identification.

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