Comparison of microscopy and antigen capture enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of Cryptosporidium parvum in stool (n = 978 samples)
| All specimens (n = 978) | Initial specimens (n = 795) | |
| Results | ||
| Microscopy +; ELISA + | 9 | 7 |
| Microscopy +; ELISA − | 5 | 5 |
| Microscopy −; ELISA + | 1 | 1 |
| Microscopy −; ELISA − | 963 | 782 |
| Sensitivity of ELISA v microscopy1-150 | 9/14 (64%) | 7/12 (58%) |
| Sensitivity of both methodsv all true positives1-151 | ||
| ELISA | 10/15 (67%) | 8/13 (61%) |
| Microscopy | 14/15 (93%) | 12/13 (92%) |
↵1-150 Values are number of tests positive by ELISA or microscopy/number of microscopically positive tests.
↵1-151 Values are number of tests positive by ELISA or microscopy/number of “true positive” tests. This includes specimens positive for C parvum by microscopy as well as ELISA positive and microscopically negative specimens from patients with subsequent microscopically positive stool samples.