Revogene Strep A Molecular Assay Delivers 98% Sensitivity in Multicenter Evaluation
A seven-site prospective study validated the Revogene Strep A real-time PCR assay for Group A Streptococcus detection from throat swabs, reporting 98.1% sensitivity and 94.7% specificity against bacterial culture. The cartridge-based system delivers results in approximately 70 minutes, offering a faster molecular alternative to culture-based diagnosis in clinical microbiology labs.
The original study
Multicenter Clinical Evaluation of the Revogene Strep A Molecular Assay for Detection of Streptococcus pyogenes from Throat Swab Specimens.
- Authors
- Banerjee D, Michael J, Schmitt B, Salimnia H, Mhaissen N, Goldfarb DM, et al.
- Journal
- Journal of clinical microbiology
- Type
- Journal Article, Multicenter Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
- PMID
- 32321780
Original abstract
Group A streptococcus (GAS) species cause bacterial pharyngitis in both adults and children. Early and accurate diagnosis of GAS is important for appropriate antibiotic therapy to prevent GAS sequalae. The Revogene Strep A molecular assay (Meridian Bioscience Canada Inc, Quebec City, QC, Canada) is an automated real-time PCR assay for GAS detection from throat swab specimens within approximately 70 min. This multicenter prospective study evaluated the performance of the Revogene Strep A molecular assay compared to that of bacterial culture. Dual throat swab specimens in either liquid Amies or Stuart medium were collected from eligible subjects (pediatric population and adults) enrolled across 7 sites (USA and Canada). Revogene Strep A and reference testing was performed within 7 days and 48 h of sample collection, respectively. Of the 604 evaluable specimens, GAS was detected in 154 (25.5%) samples by the reference method and in 175 (29%) samples by the Revogene Strep A assay. Revogene Strep A assay sensitivity and specificity were reported to be 98.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 94.4 to 99.3) and 94.7% (95% CI, 92.2 to 96.4), respectively. The positive predictive value was 86.3% (95% CI, 80.4 to 90.6), negative predictive value was 99.3% (95% CI, 98.0 to 99.8) with a 1.0% invalid rate. Discrepant analysis with alternative PCR/bidirectional sequencing was performed for 24 false-positive (FP) and 3 false-negative (FN) specimens. Concordant results were reported for 17 (FP only) of 27 discordant specimens. The Revogene Strep A assay had high sensitivity and specificity for GAS detection and provides a faster alternative for GAS diagnosis.