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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 74(5), 2006, pp. 863-867
Copyright © 2006 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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FIELD EVALUATION OF THE CHESSBOARD MODIFICATION FOR SEROTYPING OF STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE IN A SMALL LABORATORY IN BANGLADESH

ELJA HERVA*, SIMO GRANAT, ZAKARIA MIA, JUKKA OLLGREN, LIISA PIIRAINEN, AND P. HELENA MÄKELÄ
National Public Health Institute, Oulu, Finland; National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland; Gonoshasthaya Vaccine Research Laboratory, Dhaka, Bangladesh

The chessboard modification of the quellung method for serotyping Streptococcus pneumoniae (Pneumococcus) was introduced in the Gonoshasthaya Vaccine Research Laboratory, a small laboratory in Bangladesh. We applied initial bench-side training and subsequent continuous surveillance and quality assurance as approaches for good laboratory practice. Results obtained a this laboratory on 1,101 consecutive isolates had satisfactory sensitivity (85.1–100%) and specificity (97.9–99.9%) for serotyping the 10 most common serogroups/types of pneumococci when compared with the results obtained in the Finnish reference laboratory for pneumococcal serotyping at the National Public Health Institute. We conclude that serotyping of pneumococci by the chessboard method can be introduced into a small laboratory by providing basic bacteriologic skills, adequate initial training, and continuous external support.

Received April 18, 2005. Accepted for publication August 29, 2005.

Acknowledgments: We thank Hasina Ferdous, Aesha Khatun, Ismat Ara, and Rokeya Parveen (GVRL), and Katriina Autio and Tarja Kaijalainen (KTL-Oulu) for excellent laboratory work, and Dr. Milan Das and Dr. Mokidur Rahman for organizing the collection of nasopharyngeal secretion samples.

Financial support: This study was supported by the European Commission DG Research INCO Programme (Contract ICA4-1999-10008).

Disclosure: None of the authors has any conflicts of interests.

* Address correspondence to Elja Herva, National Public Health Institute, Box 310 FIN-90101, Oulu, Finland. E-mail: elja.herva{at}ktl.fi

Authors’ addresses: Elja Herva, National Public Health Institute, Box 310 FIN-90101, Oulu, Finland, Telephone: 358-8-537-6210, Fax: 358-8-537-6251, E-mail: elja.herva{at}ktl.fi. Simo Granat, Jukka Ollgren, Liisa Piirainen, and P. Helena Mäkelä, National Public Health Institute, Mannerheimintie 166, FIN-00300, Helsinki, Finland, Telephone: 358-9-47441, Fax: 358-9-4744-8675, E-mails: simo.granat{at}ktl.fi, jukka.ollgren{at}ktl.fi, liisa.piirainen{at}ktl.fi, and pirjo.makela{at}ktl.fi. Zakaria Mia, Gonoshasthaya Vaccine Research Laboratory, Savar, Dhaka 1344, Bangladesh, Telephone: 880-2-770-8856, Fax: 880-2-770-8316, E-mail: mmzakaria{at}yahoo.com.






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Copyright © 2006 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.