Date of Graduation

5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Biology

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Biological Sciences

Advisor/Mentor

Catanzaro, Donald

Committee Member

Durdik, Jeannine

Second Committee Member

Kayser, Casey

Third Committee Member

Drawve, Grant

Abstract

Introduction: Coccidioidomycosis (cocci) is an infection caused by fungal pathogens in soil of dry and arid regions in the Southwestern states of the United States. The disease can present itself anywhere in the body, but usually is found in the lungs. The symptoms are very similar to the symptoms of a bacterial or viral respiratory infection, which is one of the reasons it is commonly misdiagnosed or left untreated. The CDC reports cases to have increased 143% from 2014 to 2019, with a mortality rate of 200 deaths per year, however this is likely underreported because of the inadequacies of the available diagnostic tests for cocci. Rapid, accurate diagnosis is lacking with the one available commercial test by MiraVista Diagnostic having a specificity of 99.4% but a sensitivity of 55.4%.

Objective: This research is an independent evaluation of the GM-EIA manufactured by Chemonex, LLC. With this analysis and a more accurate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), a more accurate rapid antigen test can be developed for the diagnosis of cocci, and hopefully reduced mortality and morbidity rates.

Methods: To analyze this test, no modifications were made from the protocol given by the manufacturer. The two-step ELISA protocol was followed for four trials and 179 samples.

Discussion: The test was determined to have low repeatability and poor separation between what the assay predicts to be a positive or a negative sample with a sensitivity is 10% and specificity is 95.51%

Conclusion: The performance of the assay precluded any advanced analysis of demographic information and additional work needs to be done on the test by the manufacturer before demographics and anti-fungal treatment can be relevant.

Keywords

Valley fever; coccidioidomycosis; immunoassay; antigen; antibody

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