title: Evaluation of a latex agglutination test for Rickettsia conorii antibodies in seropositive patients.
abstract: A latex agglutination test for antibodies to Rickettsia conorii was compared with micro-immunofluorescence (the reference test for total antibodies); 179 sera were from 115 confirmed cases of Mediterranean Spotted Fever, and 101 were from pregnant women (control group) who had no detectable antibodies by the reference method. The micro-immunofluorescence test for specific IgM antibodies was used to clarify some discordant results. The agreement obtained between latex-R. conorii and micro-immunofluorescence was 95%. Sensitivity and specificity were 96% and 93% respectively. When micro-immunofluorescence results for specific IgM antibodies were included, these figures rose to 96 and 99%, and agreement was almost 97%. Latex agglutination is a simpler and more rapid technique than micro-immunofluorescence and is suitable for the screening as well as for the titration of R. conorii antibodies.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Bacteriologia, Centro Nacional de Microbiologia, Virologia e Immunologia Sanitarias, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De La Fuente
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Anda
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Hechemy
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Raoult
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Casal
mesh_terms: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D001907:Boutonneuse Fever / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D012281:Rickettsia / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial