Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis (2000) 19 : 794–797 Q Springer-Verlag 2000 Note Evaluation of a New Commercial Immunoassay for Rapid Detection of Campylobacter jejuni in Stool Samples H.P. Endtz, C.W. Ang, N. van den Braak, A. Luijendijk, B.C. Jacobs, P. de Man, J.M. van Duin, A. van Belkum, H.A.Verbrugh C.W. Ang, B.C. Jacobs Department of Neurology, Erasmus University Medical Centre Rotterdam, The Netherlands P. de Man Department of Medical Microbiology, St. Franciscus Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands J.M. van Duin Department of Medical Microbiology, Zuiderziekenhuis, Rotterdam, The Netherlands H.P. Endtz (Y), N. van den Braak, A. Luijendijk, A. van Belkum, H.A. Verbrugh Department of Medical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Erasmus University Medical Centre Rotterdam, Dr. Molewaterplain 40, 3015 GD Rotterdam, The Netherlands e-mail: endtz6bacl.azr.nl Abstract In order to evaluate a new commercial enzyme immunoassay (ProspecT Campylobacter Microplate Assay; Alexon-Trend, USA) for the detec- tion of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in stool samples, 30 faecal specimens known to be culture- positive for Campylobacter jejuni were tested with the new assay. The detection limit was approximately 3!10 6 /ml in faecal suspensions. The sensitivity relative to culture was 80% (24/30). All of the 24 positive samples, except for one, remained positive after being stored at –20 7C for 60 days. The specificity of the test was 100%. Interestingly, 6 of 11 additional Campylo- bacter jejuni culture-positive samples that had been obtained from patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome and stored at –20 7C for periods of up to 5 years tested positive in the assay. The performance of the assay indicates that it has potential value for use in future early intervention studies. Introduction Campylobacter jejuni is the most frequent cause of bacterial diarrhoea in developed as well as in devel- oping countries. During the last 2 decades, major advances have been made in the methods used to isolate Campylobacter spp. [1, 2]. Campylobacter jejuni enteritis is a self-limiting disease that does not require antimicrobial therapy, except in severe cases with prolonged disease and serious symptoms. Treatment indications may also be present in the very young, the elderly and the immunocompromised patient. Fluoro- quinolones are widely used for the empirical treatment of bacterial diarrhoea. However, with increasingly high levels of quinolone resistance being observed in Campylobacter spp., the empirical treatment of patients with quinolones may result in treatment failures [3, 4]. Rapid detection of Campylobacter spp. may influence the choice of antibiotic and could, therefore, be of clin- ical relevance. The clinical spectrum of disease due to Campylobacter spp. has been extended, and new syndromes related to antecedent Campylobacter jejuni have been described [5, 6]. One of these complications is Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS). Campylobacter jejuni has recently been identified as the predominant cause of antecedent infection, and serologic evidence of a recent Campylo- bacter infection is present in 32% of patients with GBS [7]. Patients with Campylobacter jejuni-related GBS often have a more severe variant of the disease [8]. Unfortunately, the time between the preceding infec- tion and the onset of GBS is usually 1–4 weeks, which often exceeds the duration of viable Campylobacter jejuni excretion in stools. Consequently, many of the stool cultures examined for Campylobacter jejuni remain negative, which may account for an underesti- mation of the proportion of Campylobacter jejuni infec- tions in patients with GBS. Isolation of Campylobacter spp. in stool specimens usually takes 2–5 days. Rapid detection of Campylobacter spp. paves the way to early treatment options [9, 10]. Nonculture identification systems based on latex agglutination were developed in the late 1980s, but they were used for identification and culture confirmation only [11]. None of these tests was validated for the direct detection of Campylobacter spp. in stools.