251. Implementation of the Sōna Coccidioides Antibody Lateral Flow Assay in the Clinical Laboratory Proves to Reduce Cost and Decrease Turnaround Time When Compared with Send out Immunodiffusion and Complement Fixation Testing

BACKGROUND: Coccidioidomycosis (Valley fever) is an airborne, invasive fungal infection endemic to Arizona, California, Mexico, and Central and South America. The dominant method of diagnosis is serology, which includes complement fixation (CF), immunodiffusion (ID), and enzyme immunoassay (EIA). These serological assays require highly trained personnel and are time consuming, with turnaround times (TAT) that range anywhere from 5 days to 2+ weeks. Due to costs of send outs and long TAT, Valley fever presents a diagnostic challenge to physicians and laboratorians. IMMY developed the sōna Coccidioides Antibody Lateral Flow Assay (LFA), a rapid and simple diagnostic assay that detects anti-Coccidioides antibodies in patient serum in 30 minutes. METHODS: We tested the sōna Coccidioides antibody LFA using 315 patient specimens and compared cost-analysis and TAT to a send out reference lab’s ID and CF assays. RESULTS: In this study, we found that after implementing the sōna Coccidioides Antibody LFA as a screening test, the cost of send-outs reduced by 84%, and the cost of all testing reduced by 68%. The TAT for sending out testing averaged 5–10 days, whereas the sōna Coccidioides Antibody LFA averaged a total TAT of <24 hours. CONCLUSION: The sōna Coccidioides Antibody LFA offers a rapid, simple, and inexpensive method for accurately detecting antibodies against Coccidioides spp. in patient serum. DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.