Evaluation of Immunochromatography Tests for Detection of Rotavirus and Norovirus among Vietnamese Children with Acute Gastroenteritis and the Emergence of a Novel Norovirus GII.4 Variant

A prospective study was conducted to evaluate two immunochromatography (ICG) tests for detection of group A rotavirus and norovirus GII, the commercial Dipstick 'Eiken' Rota kit (SA Scientific, USA) and the NV IC-1 stick (Immuno-Probe, Japan). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with specific primer pairs (Beg9 and VP7-1', for group A rotavirus; COG2F and G2SKR, for norovirus GII) was used as the reference method. The results of ICG tests were compared with those of reference method. The sensitivity, specificity and agreement between ICG tests and PCR were 87.8%, 93.3% and 89.4%, respectively, for rotavirus ICG test; and 73.7%, 100% and 95.2%, respectively, for norovirus ICG test. The immunochromatography assay for norovirus used in this study could detect not only common noroviruses, but also a novel norovirus GII.4 variant, which emerged in Ho Chi Minh City in 2006. Immunochromatography tests are easy, rapid and useful assays for detection of rotavirus and norovirus among pediatric patients with acute gastroenteritis in Vietnam.