Evaluation of Serological Diagnostic Methods for the 2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) Virus
Abstract
Evaluation of Serological Diagnostic Methods for the 2009 Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) Virus ▿ Jesse Papenburg 1 , † , Mariana Baz 1 , † , Marie-Ève Hamelin 1 , Chantal Rhéaume 1 , Julie Carbonneau 1 , Manale Ouakki 2 , Isabelle Rouleau 2 , Gaston De Serres 2 and Guy Boivin 1 , * 1 Infectious Disease Research Center of the CHUQ-CHUL and Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada 2 Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec, Quebec, Canada ABSTRACT Serology improves influenza diagnosis by capturing cases missed by reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR). We prospectively evaluated microneutralization and hemagglutination inhibition assays for 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus diagnosis among 24 RT-PCR-confirmed cases and 98 household contacts. Compared to hemagglutination inhibition, microneutralization demonstrated a higher level of concordance with RT-PCR (kappa = 0.69 versus kappa = 0.60) and greater sensitivity (83% versus 71%; P = 0.016).