Evaluation of the RIDAQuick norovirus immunochromatographic test kit

Background: Norovirus infections occur frequently and are widespread throughout the US population causing greater than half of all foodborne gastroenteritis cases. A rapid norovirus assay would be a useful clinical tool for identification of this common virus in gastroenteritis patient samples, thereby identifying outbreaks and facilitating rapid implementation of control measures. Objectives: To determine the suitability of the RIDAQuick norovirus kit as a clinical tool by determining the specificity and sensitivity of the assay, and its cross-reactivity with other enteric viruses. Study design: Archived stool specimens containing norovirus genogroup I or II or other viruses were tested using the RIDAQuick norovirus assay and results compared to those obtained with real-time RT-PCR. Results: We tested 62 samples: 19 norovirus genogroup I, 25 genogroup II samples, and 18 norovirus negative samples. Compared to PCR results, RIDAQuick assay sensitivity was 61.4%, and specificity was 100%. The low sensitivity was mainly due to poor results with genogroup I specimens; only 11 of 19 were detected. Additionally, samples of four other common enteric viruses all tested negative with the RIDAQuick assay. Conclusions: The RIDAQuick kit effectively detects norovirus genogroup II strains, but not genogroup I strains. We found no cross-reactivity with several common enteric viruses. As most norovirus cases are currently genogroup II strains, positive results with RIDAQuick can be used for rapid detection of norovirus in a large percentage of cases, thus also aiding in identification of outbreaks. However, final confirmation and negative results require further testing with more sensitive methods. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.