External Quality Assurance for Laboratory Identification and Capsular Typing of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Hans Christian Slotved; Carmen L. Sheppard; Tine Dalby; Arie Van Der Ende; Norman Fry; Eva Morfeldt; Outi Nyholm; Assaf Rokney; Merav Ron; Lotta Siira; Kevin J. Scott; Andrew Smith; Louise Thom; Maija Toropainen; Didrik F. Vestrheim

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-13605-8

External Quality Assurance for Laboratory Identification and Capsular Typing of Streptococcus pneumoniae

Hans Christian Slotved^*, Carmen L. Sheppard, Tine Dalby, Arie Van Der Ende, Norman Fry, Eva Morfeldt, Outi Nyholm, Assaf Rokney, Merav Ron, Lotta Siira, Kevin J. Scott, Andrew Smith, Louise Thom, Maija Toropainen, Didrik F. Vestrheim

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

An external quality assessment (EQA) scheme for pneumococcal serotype identification has been performed over a period of 11 years, by a network of European pneumococcal reference laboratories. We report the results from the EQA, and present an assessment of the acceptability and utility of the EQA scheme. Reports from 22 EQA panels distributed in 2005-2016 were analysed. Each EQA panel consisted of seven isolates. A questionnaire including seven questions related to the acceptability and utility of the EQA scheme was distributed to all participating laboratories. Altogether, 154 pneumococcal isolates were tested. Of the 92 serologically distinct serotypes currently defined, 49 serotypes were included in the rounds. Discrepant results were observed in eight EQA rounds, involving 11 isolates (7.1%, 95% CI: 4% to 12%). All participating laboratories reported that the EQA scheme was useful for quality assurance purposes. Our results show that comparable serotyping data can be obtained in different laboratories. The EQA participation helps to keep the typing procedures at a high standard and provides data for accreditation purposes. The EQA is helpful when new technologies are introduced, and reveal limitations of both genotypic and phenotypic methods. Continuation of the presented EQA scheme is planned.

Original language	English
Article number	13280
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	7
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13605-8
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Competing Interests: H-C Slotved is participating in a project supported by Pfizer. A. van der Ende receives financial support from Pfizer for an investigator initiated project on the Epidemiology of invasive pneumococcal disease in the Netherlands. Maija Toropainen is an employee of the National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland, which has received research funding from GlaxoSmithKline for pneumococcal research projects. Lotta Siira is a co-investigator in a study with a co-operative research agreement with the National Institute of Health and Welfare. This study was publicly funded without any contribution from GSK.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).

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Slotved, H. C., Sheppard, C. L., Dalby, T., Van Der Ende, A., Fry, N., Morfeldt, E., Nyholm, O., Rokney, A., Ron, M., Siira, L., Scott, K. J., Smith, A., Thom, L., Toropainen, M., & Vestrheim, D. F. (2017). External Quality Assurance for Laboratory Identification and Capsular Typing of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Scientific Reports, 7(1), [13280]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13605-8

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abstract = "An external quality assessment (EQA) scheme for pneumococcal serotype identification has been performed over a period of 11 years, by a network of European pneumococcal reference laboratories. We report the results from the EQA, and present an assessment of the acceptability and utility of the EQA scheme. Reports from 22 EQA panels distributed in 2005-2016 were analysed. Each EQA panel consisted of seven isolates. A questionnaire including seven questions related to the acceptability and utility of the EQA scheme was distributed to all participating laboratories. Altogether, 154 pneumococcal isolates were tested. Of the 92 serologically distinct serotypes currently defined, 49 serotypes were included in the rounds. Discrepant results were observed in eight EQA rounds, involving 11 isolates (7.1%, 95% CI: 4% to 12%). All participating laboratories reported that the EQA scheme was useful for quality assurance purposes. Our results show that comparable serotyping data can be obtained in different laboratories. The EQA participation helps to keep the typing procedures at a high standard and provides data for accreditation purposes. The EQA is helpful when new technologies are introduced, and reveal limitations of both genotypic and phenotypic methods. Continuation of the presented EQA scheme is planned.",

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note = "Funding Information: Competing Interests: H-C Slotved is participating in a project supported by Pfizer. A. van der Ende receives financial support from Pfizer for an investigator initiated project on the Epidemiology of invasive pneumococcal disease in the Netherlands. Maija Toropainen is an employee of the National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland, which has received research funding from GlaxoSmithKline for pneumococcal research projects. Lotta Siira is a co-investigator in a study with a co-operative research agreement with the National Institute of Health and Welfare. This study was publicly funded without any contribution from GSK. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 The Author(s).",

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Slotved, HC, Sheppard, CL, Dalby, T, Van Der Ende, A, Fry, N, Morfeldt, E, Nyholm, O, Rokney, A, Ron, M, Siira, L, Scott, KJ, Smith, A, Thom, L, Toropainen, M & Vestrheim, DF 2017, 'External Quality Assurance for Laboratory Identification and Capsular Typing of Streptococcus pneumoniae', Scientific Reports, vol. 7, no. 1, 13280. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13605-8

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AU - Slotved, Hans Christian

AU - Sheppard, Carmen L.

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AU - Van Der Ende, Arie

AU - Fry, Norman

AU - Morfeldt, Eva

AU - Nyholm, Outi

AU - Rokney, Assaf

AU - Ron, Merav

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AU - Scott, Kevin J.

AU - Smith, Andrew

AU - Thom, Louise

AU - Toropainen, Maija

AU - Vestrheim, Didrik F.

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N2 - An external quality assessment (EQA) scheme for pneumococcal serotype identification has been performed over a period of 11 years, by a network of European pneumococcal reference laboratories. We report the results from the EQA, and present an assessment of the acceptability and utility of the EQA scheme. Reports from 22 EQA panels distributed in 2005-2016 were analysed. Each EQA panel consisted of seven isolates. A questionnaire including seven questions related to the acceptability and utility of the EQA scheme was distributed to all participating laboratories. Altogether, 154 pneumococcal isolates were tested. Of the 92 serologically distinct serotypes currently defined, 49 serotypes were included in the rounds. Discrepant results were observed in eight EQA rounds, involving 11 isolates (7.1%, 95% CI: 4% to 12%). All participating laboratories reported that the EQA scheme was useful for quality assurance purposes. Our results show that comparable serotyping data can be obtained in different laboratories. The EQA participation helps to keep the typing procedures at a high standard and provides data for accreditation purposes. The EQA is helpful when new technologies are introduced, and reveal limitations of both genotypic and phenotypic methods. Continuation of the presented EQA scheme is planned.

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External Quality Assurance for Laboratory Identification and Capsular Typing of Streptococcus pneumoniae

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