Performance of the binax NOW Streptococcus pneumoniae urinary antigen assay for diagnosis of pneumonia in children with underlying pulmonary diseases in the absence of acute pneumococcal infection

The performance of the Binax NOW immunochromatographic test for detecting Streptococcus pneumoniae antigen in urine specimens from 103 children presenting underlying pulmonary diseases with no recent pneumococcal infection was assessed. Our data indicate that this assay is unlikely to be useful for discriminating between children with and without pneumococcal pneumonia.