Comparison of six different commercial IgG-ELISA kits for the detection of TBEV-antibodies

Background: Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is a pathogenic human flavivirus endemic in some parts of Europe and Asia. Commercial enzyme immunoassays (EIA) for the detection of IgG antibodies are often used in TBEV-seroprevalence studies, as well as for the confirmation of a successful vaccination against TBEV. However, the detection of TBEV-specific antibodies can be biased by the cross-reactivity between different flavivirus genera. Objectives: To compare different EIA test systems for the detection of TBEV-IgG antibodies. Study design: Six commercial EIA kits for the detection of TBEV-specific antibodies are compared, using serum panels (n = 139) of subjects with a documented clinical history (109 sera from TBEV infected patients, 30 sera from people vaccinated against TBEV). For the analysis of possible cross-reactivities, 24 sera from yellow fever vaccinated people and 13 sera positive for Dengue virus-specific antibodies were also included. Results: The sensitivity of the different TBEV test systems ranges from 73 to 99%. However, when testing the yellow fever and Dengue virus positive specimens, problems with the flavivirus cross- reactivity become obvious, resulting in specificities between 14 and 81%. Conclusions: This study shows the necessity of further improvement of the existing TBEV test systems regarding both sensitivity and specificity. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.