First international external quality assessment scheme of nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of Schistosoma and soil-transmitted helminths, including Strongyloides: A pilot study.
Background Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) are increasingly being used as diagnostic tools for soil-transmitted helminths (STHs; Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Necator americanus, Ancylostoma duodenale and A. ceylanicum), Strongyloides stercoralis and Schistosoma in human stool....
Published in: | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008231 https://doaj.org/article/f2f6f715a6fa4323869e4494611c1cfa |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:f2f6f715a6fa4323869e4494611c1cfa 2023-05-15T15:12:08+02:00 First international external quality assessment scheme of nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of Schistosoma and soil-transmitted helminths, including Strongyloides: A pilot study. Piet Cools Lisette van Lieshout Rob Koelewijn David Addiss Sitara S R Ajjampur Mio Ayana Richard S Bradbury Jason L Cantera Daniel Dana Kerstin Fischer Rubina Imtiaz Joyce Kabagenyi James Lok James McCarthy Rojelio Mejia Zeleke Mekonnen Sammy M Njenga Nurulhasanah Othman Hongguang Shao Rebecca Traub Marjan Van Esbroeck Jozef Vercruysse Johnny Vlaminck Steven A Williams Jaco J Verweij Jaap J van Hellemond Bruno Levecke 2020-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008231 https://doaj.org/article/f2f6f715a6fa4323869e4494611c1cfa EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008231 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0008231 https://doaj.org/article/f2f6f715a6fa4323869e4494611c1cfa PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 14, Iss 6, p e0008231 (2020) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2020 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008231 2022-12-31T10:59:43Z Background Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) are increasingly being used as diagnostic tools for soil-transmitted helminths (STHs; Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Necator americanus, Ancylostoma duodenale and A. ceylanicum), Strongyloides stercoralis and Schistosoma in human stool. Currently, there is a large diversity of NAATs being applied, but an external quality assessment scheme (EQAS) for these diagnostics is lacking. An EQAS involves a blinded process where test results reported by a laboratory are compared to those reported by reference or expert laboratories, allowing for an objective assessment of the diagnostic performance of a laboratory. In the current study, we piloted an international EQAS for these helminths (i) to investigate the feasibility of designing and delivering an EQAS; (ii) to assess the diagnostic performance of laboratories; and (iii) to gain insights into the different NAAT protocols used. Methods and principal findings A panel of twelve stool samples and eight DNA samples was validated by six expert laboratories for the presence of six helminths (Ascaris, Trichuris, N. americanus, Ancylostoma, Strongyloides and Schistosoma). Subsequently this panel was sent to 15 globally dispersed laboratories. We found a high degree of diversity among the different DNA extraction and NAAT protocols. Although most laboratories performed well, we could clearly identify the laboratories that were poorly performing. Conclusions/significance We showed the technical feasibility of an international EQAS for the NAAT of STHs, Strongyloides and Schistosoma. In addition, we documented that there are clear benefits for participating laboratories, as they can confirm and/or improve the diagnostic performance of their NAATs. Further research should aim to identify factors that explain poor performance of NAATs. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 14 6 e0008231 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Piet Cools Lisette van Lieshout Rob Koelewijn David Addiss Sitara S R Ajjampur Mio Ayana Richard S Bradbury Jason L Cantera Daniel Dana Kerstin Fischer Rubina Imtiaz Joyce Kabagenyi James Lok James McCarthy Rojelio Mejia Zeleke Mekonnen Sammy M Njenga Nurulhasanah Othman Hongguang Shao Rebecca Traub Marjan Van Esbroeck Jozef Vercruysse Johnny Vlaminck Steven A Williams Jaco J Verweij Jaap J van Hellemond Bruno Levecke First international external quality assessment scheme of nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of Schistosoma and soil-transmitted helminths, including Strongyloides: A pilot study. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Background Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) are increasingly being used as diagnostic tools for soil-transmitted helminths (STHs; Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, Necator americanus, Ancylostoma duodenale and A. ceylanicum), Strongyloides stercoralis and Schistosoma in human stool. Currently, there is a large diversity of NAATs being applied, but an external quality assessment scheme (EQAS) for these diagnostics is lacking. An EQAS involves a blinded process where test results reported by a laboratory are compared to those reported by reference or expert laboratories, allowing for an objective assessment of the diagnostic performance of a laboratory. In the current study, we piloted an international EQAS for these helminths (i) to investigate the feasibility of designing and delivering an EQAS; (ii) to assess the diagnostic performance of laboratories; and (iii) to gain insights into the different NAAT protocols used. Methods and principal findings A panel of twelve stool samples and eight DNA samples was validated by six expert laboratories for the presence of six helminths (Ascaris, Trichuris, N. americanus, Ancylostoma, Strongyloides and Schistosoma). Subsequently this panel was sent to 15 globally dispersed laboratories. We found a high degree of diversity among the different DNA extraction and NAAT protocols. Although most laboratories performed well, we could clearly identify the laboratories that were poorly performing. Conclusions/significance We showed the technical feasibility of an international EQAS for the NAAT of STHs, Strongyloides and Schistosoma. In addition, we documented that there are clear benefits for participating laboratories, as they can confirm and/or improve the diagnostic performance of their NAATs. Further research should aim to identify factors that explain poor performance of NAATs. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Piet Cools Lisette van Lieshout Rob Koelewijn David Addiss Sitara S R Ajjampur Mio Ayana Richard S Bradbury Jason L Cantera Daniel Dana Kerstin Fischer Rubina Imtiaz Joyce Kabagenyi James Lok James McCarthy Rojelio Mejia Zeleke Mekonnen Sammy M Njenga Nurulhasanah Othman Hongguang Shao Rebecca Traub Marjan Van Esbroeck Jozef Vercruysse Johnny Vlaminck Steven A Williams Jaco J Verweij Jaap J van Hellemond Bruno Levecke |
author_facet |
Piet Cools Lisette van Lieshout Rob Koelewijn David Addiss Sitara S R Ajjampur Mio Ayana Richard S Bradbury Jason L Cantera Daniel Dana Kerstin Fischer Rubina Imtiaz Joyce Kabagenyi James Lok James McCarthy Rojelio Mejia Zeleke Mekonnen Sammy M Njenga Nurulhasanah Othman Hongguang Shao Rebecca Traub Marjan Van Esbroeck Jozef Vercruysse Johnny Vlaminck Steven A Williams Jaco J Verweij Jaap J van Hellemond Bruno Levecke |
author_sort |
Piet Cools |
title |
First international external quality assessment scheme of nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of Schistosoma and soil-transmitted helminths, including Strongyloides: A pilot study. |
title_short |
First international external quality assessment scheme of nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of Schistosoma and soil-transmitted helminths, including Strongyloides: A pilot study. |
title_full |
First international external quality assessment scheme of nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of Schistosoma and soil-transmitted helminths, including Strongyloides: A pilot study. |
title_fullStr |
First international external quality assessment scheme of nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of Schistosoma and soil-transmitted helminths, including Strongyloides: A pilot study. |
title_full_unstemmed |
First international external quality assessment scheme of nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of Schistosoma and soil-transmitted helminths, including Strongyloides: A pilot study. |
title_sort |
first international external quality assessment scheme of nucleic acid amplification tests for the detection of schistosoma and soil-transmitted helminths, including strongyloides: a pilot study. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008231 https://doaj.org/article/f2f6f715a6fa4323869e4494611c1cfa |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 14, Iss 6, p e0008231 (2020) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008231 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0008231 https://doaj.org/article/f2f6f715a6fa4323869e4494611c1cfa |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0008231 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
6 |
container_start_page |
e0008231 |
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