Table 2.

Summary of studies on the sensitivity and specificity of molecular techniques for Strongyloides stercoralis detection and diagnosis

Genetic marker	Primer used	Type of PCRa	Sample type	Sensitivity (%)	Specificity (%)	Reference method	References
18S	[34]	RT-PCR	Fecal	72 to 92	100	Parasitological	[34]b
				84.7	95.8	Parasitological	[83]
				76.8	89.7	Parasitological	[84]
				15 to 34.1	> 99	Parasitological	[87]
				93.8	86.5	Parasitological	[35]
				90	85.7	Parasitological	[36]
				27.5 to 86.3	NA	Parasitological	[45]
				73.9	100	Parasitological	[39]
				85	87.3	Parasitological	[25]
				38	100	Immunological	[85]
				63	NA	Immunological	[20]
				57	NA	Parasitological and immunological (composite reference)	[16]
		Multiplex RT-PCR	Fecal	17.4 to 76.3	93.9	Parasitological and molecular combination	[15]
				88.9	92.7	Parasitological	[86]
		cPCR	Fecal	100	NA	Parasitological	[21]
				76.7	84.3	Parasitological	[25]
				78.8 to 84.8	82.5 to 95	Parasitological	[87]
				100	NA	Parasitological	[88]
	[89]	cPCR	Fecal	100	NA	Parasitological	[89]b
		Nested PCR	Fecal	75	NA	Parasitological	[89]b
	[37]	Multiplex RT-PCR	Fecal	72 to 100	100	Parasitological	[37]b
	[38]	RT-PCR	Fecal	82	76.7	Parasitological	[38]b
		ddPCR	Fecal	98	90	Parasitological	[38]b
COI	[90]	Nested PCR	Fecal	100	91.6	Parasitological	[90]b
ITS2	[89]	cPCR	Fecal	61	NA	Parasitological	[91]
	[92]	cPCR	Fecal	100	NA	Parasitological	[92]b
Repetitive elements	[46]	cPCR	Urine	93.6	NA	Parasitological	[46]b
				17	NA	Immunological	[20]
				74.7	77.1	Bayesian estimates	[79]

^aRT-PCR real-time PCR, cPCR conventional PCR, ddPCR droplet digital PCR

^bThe reference indicates that the primers were originally developed in that particular study