Comparative assessment of seller\u2019s staining test (SST) and direct
fluorescent antibody test for rapid and accurate laboratory diagnosis
of rabies.
Background: Rabies causes 55, 000 annual human deaths globally and
about 10,000 people are exposed annually in Nigeria. Diagnosis of
animal rabies in most African countries has been by direct microscopic
examination. In Nigeria, the Seller\u2019s stain test (SST) was
employed until 2009. Before then, both SST and dFAT were used
concurrently until the dFAT became the only standard method. Objective:
This study was designed to assess the sensitivity and specificity of
the SST in relation to the \u2018gold standard\u2019 dFAT in
diagnosis of rabies in Nigeria. Methods: A total of 88 animal specimens
submitted to the Rabies National Reference Laboratory, Nigeria were
routinely tested for rabies by SST and dFAT. Results: Overall, 65.9% of
the specimens were positive for rabies by SST, while 81.8% were
positive by dFAT. The sensitivity of SST in relation to the gold
standard dFAT was 81.0% (95% CIs; 69.7% - 88.6%), while the specificity
was 100% (95% CIs; 76% - 100%). Conclusion: The relatively low
sensitivity of the SST observed in this study calls for its replacement
with the dFAT for accurate diagnosis of rabies and timely decisions on
administration of PEP to prevent untimely deaths of exposed humans