Comparison of the Vidas and Bio-Whittaker enzyme immunoassays for detecting IgG reactive with varicella-zoster virus and mumps virus

A total of 215 sera, 164 positive and 51 negative for antibody reactive with varicella-zoster virus (VZV), were analyzed using two commercially available enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) for detecting VZV-IgG, the Vidas Varicella-Zoster IgG assay (bio-Merieux Vitek, Inc., Hazelwood, MO, USA) and the BioWhittaker Varicella II assay (Bio-Whittaker, Inc., Walkersville, MD). The sensitivity and specificity of the Vidas and EIA for VZV-IgG was 98.9 and 100%, respectively. The sensitivity of the Bio-Whittaker VZV-IgG EIA assay was 98.8%, specificity 96.1%. Equivocal results were obtained with 4 and 2 sera, respectively. A total of 185 sera, 169 positive and 16 negative for mumps virus antibody, were analyzed with Vidas and Bio-Whittaker mumps IgG EIAs. The sensitivity of the two assays for detecting mumps IgG was 99.4% and 95.7%, respectively. Both assays demonstrated 100% specificity. Two of the 185 sera tested for mumps antibody yielded equivocal results with the Vidas EIA; four equivocal results were obtained with the Bio-Whittaker EIA. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.