World Health Organization recommends CrAg LFA

As you are probably aware, we here at IMMY have been manufacturing CrAg assays for more than 30 years. We have recently introduced the CrAg Lateral Flow Assay (LFA). Yesterday, the World Health Organization released Rapid Advice on Diagnosis, prevention and management of cryptococcal disease in HIV-infected Adults, Adolescents and Children. We are pretty excited about what they found. Here are some of the highlights:

“The LFA has several advantages over the LA CrAg assay: it is less expensive, has a rapid 5-15 minute turnaround time, requires little training for its use and interpretation, can be performed with minimal laboratory infrastructure and without refrigeration since it is stable at room temperature, and satisfies most of the WHO ASSURED criteria for point-of-care tests.” 

“The use of the LFA CrAg point-of-care-test would further facilitate and reduce the costs of a “screen and treat” strategy, especially in settings lacking laboratory support…”

Diagnosis of cryptococcal disease

· The CrAg LFA is strongly recommended for diagnosis of cryptococcal disease (meningeal and non-meningeal) using serum, plasma and/or CSF specimens.

· CrAg testing is recommended instead of India ink testing because CrAg tests are much more sensitive and specific.
Prevention of cryptococcal disease

· Routine serum or plasma CrAg screening is recommended in ART-naïve adults with CD43%.

The document is available on the WHO website here

More information about the CrAg LFA can be found here.  If you have any questions, then please contact us today.