Performance (Sensitivity and Specificity) of a New Point-of-Care Immunochromatography to Screen for Imported Chronic Schistosomiasis Among Long-Term Sub-Saharan Migrants

Background

Imported schistosomiasis is underdiagnosed among long-term migrants in non-endemic countries. Reference standard tests are lacking for the diagnosis of chronic schistosomiasis.

Methods

This study evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of a new immunochromatography (ICT) test using serum (s) or point-of-care finger-prick (FP) whole blood against standard serological tests in long-term migrants from sub-Saharan Africa.

Results

A total of 202 individuals were screened, with a mean age of 42.7 years. Of these, 75.7% were male, and 42.6% were from Senegal. Test positivity rates were 15.8% for ELISA, 24.3% for ICT-p, 46.5% for ICT-b (s), and 28.7% for ICT-b (FP). All tests showed good agreement with a clinical score but with heterogeneous agreement between them. Our results indicates a higher sensitivity for ICT-b (s). Positive responses after treatment suggest good specificity for all tests.

Conclusions

ICT-b (s) shows a higher sensitivity than the other standard tests. An ICT-b (FP) strategy could be used as a first-step point-of-care screening tool for probable chronic schistosomiasis.