Use of 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-∅-D-N-acetylneuraminic acid in a novel spot test to identify sialidase activity in vaginal swabs from women with bacterial vaginosis

The validity of measuring vaginal sialidase activity to identify bacterial vaginosis (BV) was determined by using 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-α-D-N-acetylneuraminic acid in a near-patient test. The sensitivity and specificity of the test for prediction of BV were 95.6 and 96.3%, respectively. Positive and negative predictive values were 95.6 and 96.3%, respectively. This test may be an alternative to Gram staining.