title: [Strategy of the use of immunological tests in the topographical diagnosis of urinary infections].
abstract: Assays for bacteria-specific antibodies were performed in 423 hospital patients with urinary tract infection (UTI), 184 of whom also had serodiagnosis by passive haemoagglutination with the strain responsible for the infection. The results of serodiagnosis were expressed as the difference in dilution between the antibody titres found in the patients and those found in pooled sera from healthy subjects. On the basis of this study, a rationale for immunological investigations, particularly in adults, is suggested. When bacteria-specific antibodies are lacking the probability of a lower UTI is 98%; when they are present, the probability of an upper UTI is only 74.5%, but the figure rises to 95% with a positive passive haemoagglutination serodiagnosis. In patients with negative serodiagnosis and positive bacteria-specific antibodies, a topographical diagnosis of UTI by immunological methods becomes impossible. In children, these methods are of little use owing to their poor sensitivity in detecting bacteria-specific antibodies, but the information provided by serodiagnosis is useful for determining the site of infection.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000919:Antibody-Coated Bacteria Test, Urinary; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012698:Serologic Tests; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology
vernacular_title: Stratégie d'utilisation des examens immunologiques dans le diagnostic topographique des infections urinaires.