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A new technique (the NOW test) for the detection of Streptococcus pneumoniae in the effusions of otitis media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

Howard Faden
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, State University of New York School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Buffalo, and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, New York, USA.
Christopher Poje
Affiliation:
Departments of Otolaryngology, State University of New York School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Buffalo, and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, New York, USA.
Michael Pizzuto
Affiliation:
Departments of Otolaryngology, State University of New York School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Buffalo, and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, New York, USA.
Mark Nagy
Affiliation:
Departments of Otolaryngology, State University of New York School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Buffalo, and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, New York, USA.
Linda Brodsky
Affiliation:
Departments of Otolaryngology, State University of New York School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Buffalo, and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, New York, USA.

Abstract

The presence of Streptococcus pneumoniae in chronic otitis media was determined with a new antigen detection kit, the NOW test. The NOW test was originally designed as a urinary antigen test but was adapted to middle-ear effusions for the present study. Middle-ear effusions from 52 children were studied. Streptococcus pneumoniae was cultured from 10 per cent of the effusions. The NOW test was positive in 23 per cent of the effusions, 80 per cent of culture positive and 17 per cent of culture negative effusions. The NOW test proved to be rapid, simple, reliable and relatively inexpensive for the detection of pneumococcal antigen in the middle-ear effusions. This test may prove valuable for the management of children with acute otitis media who undergo tympanocentesis.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2002

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