Accuracy of Two Circulating Antigen Tests for the Diagnosis and Surveillance of Schistosoma mansoni Infection in Low-Endemicity Settings of Co∧te d'Ivoire

In low-endemicity settings, current tools for the diagnosis and surveillance of schistosomiasis are often inaccurate in detecting true infection. We assessed the accuracy of an up-converting phosphor lateral flow circulating anodic antigen (UCP-LF CAA) test and a point-of-care circulating cathodic antigen (POC-CCA) urine cassette test for the diagnosis of Schistosoma mansoni. Our study was conducted in eight schools of western Cote d'Ivoire. Fifty children, aged 9-12 years, were enrolled per school. From each child, a single urine specimen and two stool specimens were collected over consecutive days for diagnostic work-up. Urine samples were subjected to UCP-LF CAA and POC-CCA tests. From each stool sample, triplicate Kato-Katz thick smears were examined. Overall, 378 children had complete data records. The prevalence of S. mansoni, as assessed by six Kato-Katz thick smears, was 4.0%. The UCP-LF CAA and POC-CCA tests revealed S. mansoni prevalence of 25.4% and 30.7%, respectively, when considering trace results as positive, and prevalence of 23.3% and 10.9% when considering trace results as negative. In the latter case, based on a composite gold standard, the sensitivity of UCP-LF CAA (80.7%) was considerably higher than that of POC-CCA (37.6%) and six Kato-Katz thick smears (13.8%). The negative predictive value of UCP-LF CAA, POC-CCA, and six Kato-Katz thick smears was 92.8%, 79.8%, and 74.1%, respectively. Our results confirm that UCP-LF CAA is more accurate than Kato-Katz and POC-CCA for the diagnosis of S. mansoni in low-endemicity settings.

Automated summary

This study assessed the accuracy of UCP-LF CAA and POC-CCA tests for diagnosing Schistosoma mansoni and found that UCP-LF CAA had higher sensitivity compared to POC-CCA and Kato-Katz thick smears. UCP-LF CAA was more accurate in detecting S. mansoni in low-endemicity settings.