Technique included in the 10th edition of the Manual of Clinical Microbiology
It is our pleasure to announce that our exclusive product Brucellacapt® is included in the 10th edition of the Manual of Clinical Microbiology published by the American Society for Microbiology.
Dr. George F. Araj, one of the most prestigious Brucella specialists and coauthor of chapter 44 on Francisella and Brucella, refers to our product as one of the tests commonly used in the laboratories for the diagnosis of brucellosis.
Brucellacapt (Vircell, Granada, Spain) has been introduced as a rapid (18 to 24 hours) and easy serologic test to carry out. The test is based on immunocapture agglutination methodology that can detect, in a single step, the nonagglutinating IgG and IgA antibodies. The sensitivity and specificity are similar to those of the Coombs test. However, since the latter test is cumbersome because of multiple washing steps, centrifugation, and a long turnaround time (48 hours), Brucellacapt can offer a valuable alternative (Jeannine M. Petersen, Martin E. Schriefer, and George F. Araj, Manual of Clinical Microbiology, p. 762).
Dr. Araj also mentions Brucellacapt® in the Evaluation, Interpretation, and Reporting of Results section and recommends its use in combination with another agglutination test.
Based on the above, laboratories should use a combination of two agglutination tests, namely, the SAT and indirect Coombs test, the SAT and Brucellacapt, or ELISAs for IgG and IgM. In doing so, one would be able to detect antibodies in different stages of the disease, since in the acute stage any test can be positive, while in chronic, complicated, or focal disease cases, the SAT can be negative while the Coombs test, Brucellacapt, and ELISA using IgG can be positive (Jeannine M. Petersen, Martin E. Schriefer, and George F. Araj, Manual of Clinical Microbiology, p. 764)
We are sure that this mention of Brucellacapt® will grant us the maximum recognition as this manual is the most authoritative reference in the field and sets standards in worldwide clinical microbiology laboratory practices.