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Direct-Smear Fluorescent Antibody Cytology as a Field Diagnostic Tool for Trachoma
Martha C. Wilson;
Francisco Millan-Velasco, MD;
James M. Tielsch, PhD;
Hugh R. Taylor, MD, FRACS
Arch Ophthalmol. 1986;104(5):688-690.
Abstract
• A recently developed direct-smear fluorescent antibody (DFA) cytology method of detecting chlamydial infection was evaluated in an area where trachoma is endemic. Four hundred seventy-five children aged 2 to 10 years were examined, and adequate conjunctival cytology specimens were collected from 457 (96%). Trachomatous inflammatory changes were observed in 114 (25%) of the children. The DFA cytologic technique has a high specificity (100%) but a low sensitivity (8%). It offers a number of advantages over existing laboratory methods for diagnosing trachoma in the field. It is a rapid, simple, and easily transferred test that has a high specificity. Although DFA cytology shares the low sensitivity of other laboratory methods of diagnosing trachoma, we believe its logistical advantages make it the laboratory test of choice.
Author Affiliations
From the University of Louisville School of Medicine (Ms Wilson); the Sanitary Jurisdiction Number II, Secretaria de Salubridad y Asistencia, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico (Dr Millan-Velasco); and the Dana Center for Preventive Ophthalmology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore (Drs Tielsch and Taylor).
Footnotes
Accepted for publication Oct 29, 1985.
Reprint requests to The Wilmer Institute, Room 116, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD 21205 (Dr Taylor).
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