The sensitivity reported by others varies widely (20 94%) [ 19].
This is lower than the sensitivity reported by Banco et al 14 (74%); Nwanyanwu et al 9 (97.3%); Whybrew et al 8 (94%); and Wammanda and Onazi 15 (96.3%).
The 84.3% sensitivity estimate of the NDSS case definition for physician-diagnosed diabetes detected in the current study is similar to the 85% sensitivity reported by Hux et al. (4) in Ontario, who compared the NDSS case definition with self-reported diabetes from the National Population Health Survey.
73 Strict control of humidity by storing DBS in sealed plastic bags with silica gel immediately after drying may have been a key factor, resulting in the higher sensitivity reported in the work by Chappuis and others 71 compared with the work by Truc and others.
However, with the "best" sensitivity reported by Benito and Rubio (3) of 0.004 parasites/µL, a standard 450-mL blood donation could contain <1,800 parasites and still be tested negative by SNM-PCR.
One of the hallmarks of CFP is an apparent reversal of hot and cold sensations that may actually be induced by an enhanced sensitivity, reported as burning skin, to any extreme temperatures.
It should also be noted that despite the good in vitro sensitivity reported by the majority of studies (Additional file 1) CTC detection diagnostic accuracy was significantly higher in studies in which larger blood volumes were drawn.
In the present study, only 10% of cases had had values ≥ 2.3 MoM, our current cut off for further investigation, which is even lower than the 25% sensitivity reported by Burton [ 19].
If we assume the sensitivity recently reported by NLST of 93.8% (Church et al, 2013), instead of 97% from the meta-analysis, the numbers of screen-detected cancers and the numbers of deaths prevented would be attenuated by ∼3%.
When we used the results of this test as a reference standard, estimates of the sensitivity of reporting by pastoral Masai and Sukuma herdsmen in Tanzania were similar to those for herdsmen in Cameroon.
