TABLE 2.

Sensitivities and specificities of serologic assays for detection of antibodies to H5N1 virus

Age groupa	Parameterb	Values (%)
		Individual serologic testsc			Combination of testsd
		N	E	W	N-W	E-W
Child
	Sensitivity (n = 8)	88	100	100	88	100
	Specificity (n = 24)	100	92	83	100	100
Adult
	Sensitivity (n = 85)	80	80	80	80	80
	Specificity (n = 85)	93	62ef	85	96	84e

^aSerum samples from individuals from 1 to 14 years of age (Child) or from individuals 18 to 59 years of age (Adult). 

^bSensitivity, number of H5N1 virus-infected patients testing positive for antibody divided by the total number of patients with confirmed H5N1 infections tested. Specificity, number of control age-matched sera tested minus the number of control sera testing positive for antibody divided by total number of control sera. 

^cTests for determination of H5N1 virus positivity (N, microneutralization test; W, Western blotting; E, ELISA). 

^dCombination of tests. Microneutralization test with A/Hong Kong/156/97 virus followed by Western blot confirmation with rHA of A/Hong Kong/156/97 virus (N-W) and ELISA with rHA of A/Hong Kong/156/97 virus followed by Western blot confirmation with rHA of A/Hong Kong/156/97 virus (E-W). 

^eNumber of samples, 50. 

^fStatistical analysis for positive association between test result and known status of samples was not significant (Fisher exact test; P = 0.067). All other assays were significant (P = 0.003).