Comparison of commercially available, rapid, point-of-care C-reactive protein assays among children with febrile illness in southwestern Uganda

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0002727
• Publication Date: 2024-01-19T18:34:30Z
• Authors: Caitlin A. Cassidy; Lydiah Kabugho; Georget Kibaba; Bradley Lin; Brandon Hollingsw...; Emmanuel Baguma; Jonathan J. Juliano; Edgar M. Mulogo; Ross M. Boyce; Emily J. Ciccone
• Keywords: Point-of-Care Testing; Point of care; Limiting

In Uganda, children with febrile illness are often treated antibiotics even though most have self-limiting, likely viral, infections. C-reactive protein (CRP) measurement can help identify those who more to a bacterial infection and therefore need antibiotic treatment. Implementation of CRP rapid diagnostic test (RDT) at the point-of-care in resource-constrained settings minimal laboratory infrastructure could reduce unnecessary use. this study, we evaluated performance three semi-quantitative RDTs (Actim, BTNX, Duo) against reference assay requiring an electrically powered analyzer (Afinion). While both tests demonstrated substantial agreement Afinion, Actim had slightly higher than BTNX. The sensitivity was for BTNX test, whereas specificity, cut-offs 40 mg/L 80 mg/L. At cut-off 20 mg/L, Duo Afinion as well. Our results demonstrate reliability when compared standard. without laboratory-based promising tools optimizing use low-resource settings.