Detection of group a Streptococcus in pharyngitis by two rapid tests: comparison of the BD Veritor and the QuikRead go(R) Strep A.

We compared the performance of two rapid antigen tests-QuikRead go(R) Strep A test (Orion Diagnostica, Espoo, Finland) and BD Veritor system (Becton, Dickinson and Company, Sparks, MD) with throat culture. Our aim was to evaluate each assay's performance and agreement compared to throat culture in order to choose one of the assays as a point-of-care test in the emergency room. One hundred throat samples were collected in triplicates from patients with suspected pharyngitis admitted to the emergency room. One throat swab was seeded for a throat culture. The other two throat swabs from each patient were analyzed at the emergency room by the QuikRead go(R) Strep A test, and by the BD Veritor system, according to each manufacturer's instructions. Agreement level between BD Veritor test and throat culture was 79%; sensitivity and specificity of this test were 80% and 78.7%, respectively. QuikRead go(R) Strep A test had an agreement level of 75% with throat culture; sensitivity and specificity of this test were 80% and 73.3%, respectively. Both tests have a good diagnostic performance. Other characteristics such as costs, size of instrument, and ease of implementation should be taken into consideration when choosing a point-of-care test.