title: Modified indirect hemagglutination test for detection of treponemal antibodies in finger-prick blood.
abstract: A modified indirect hemagglutination test for the detection of treponemal antibodies was developed for use with finger-prick blood. By using paired serum and absorbed finger-prick blood from 58 patients from an area previously endemic for yaws and 12 patients without yaws, the modified hemagglutination test was compared with a hemagglutination test for Treponema pallidum and the fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption test. The modified hemagglutination test showed 100% specificity and an overall agreement of 96.5% with the hemagglutination test for T. pallidum and 94.8% with the fluorescent treponemal antibody test. The modified hemagglutination test appears to be a simple and economical test that is suitable for use in large epidemiological surveys for yaws.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Backhouse
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Nesteroff
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Hudson
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Hamilton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection; D002648:Child; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005385:Fingers; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests; D006801:Humans; D013587:Syphilis / Q000175:diagnosis; D014208:Treponema / Q000276:immunology*; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000276:immunology; D015001:Yaws / Q000175:diagnosis*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial