A promising new test to detect Streptococcus pneumoniae urinary antigen

Abstract Background Streptococcus pneumoniae is the main etiology of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). A quick detection of urinary antigen helps in obtaining a documented result in case of Streptococcus pneumoniae CAP. Methods We compared the BinaxNOW ® S. pneumoniae test with the new urinary antigen Sofia ® S. pneumoniae FIA. We examined 133 urine samples. Results Of the 133 included and tested non-concentrated urine samples, BinaxNOW ® and Sofia ® tests yielded 122 and 113 negative results and 11 and 20 positive results, respectively. The overall agreement between the tests was good. Conclusion This new test enabled the diagnosis of seven additional cases (7/133 = 5.2%). The improved detection with Sofia ® may be due to the immunofluorescence method used by this new test as compared with the colorimetric method used by BinaxNOW ® . Sofia ® also offers the advantage of being connected to the laboratory information system (LIS) allowing an automated traceability.