Comparison of Elisa and Rapid Immunochromatographic Tests in Diagnosis of Toxoplasmosis in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Toxoplasmosis is a neglected tropical disease with a global distribution that is estimated to infect one third of the world’s human population. This study was a comparison of ELISA and rapid Immunochromatographic tests (ICT) in diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in Port Harcourt Nigeria. Eight hundred patients grouped in four categories from three Health Care Centres were randomly sampled after due ethical approval was obtained. Samples were analysed using Toxo IgG-IgM rapid test (ICT) and Enzyme linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) technique. Socio Demo graphic Data were obtained using well-structured questionnaires. The seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis based on ICT was 28.1% while that of ELISA was 34.5% both significant (P < 0.05) with a relative risk of 0.815. The diagnostic parameters of ICT versus ELISA IgG were sensitively 46.7% specificity 81.7% positive predictive value (PPV) 57.3%, Negative predictive value (NPV) 74.4 with a diagnostic efficiency of 69.6% Cohen Kappas indicate good to moderate agreement between the two tests for detecting IgG. Although ELISA is the gold standard for diagnosing toxoplasmosis, ICT being less expensive, faster with high specificity and good diagnostic efficiency in detecting IgG is recommended as a preliminary screening tool for diagnosing toxoplasmosis in remote areas and facilities because ELISA is laborious, expensive and not readily available.