Evaluation of the Active Melioidosis Detect™ test as a point-of-care tool for the early diagnosis of melioidosis: a comparison with culture in Laos.

Background: Melioidosis is difficult to diagnose clinically and culture of Burkholderia pseudomallei is the current, imperfect gold standard. However, a reliable point-of-care test (POCT) could enable earlier treatment and improve outcomes.

Methods: We evaluated the sensitivity and specificity of the Active Melioidosis Detect™ (AMD) rapid test as a POCT and determined how much it reduced the time to diagnosis compared with culture.