Comparison of Phadebact coagglutination, Bactogen latex agglutination, and counterimmunoelectrophoresis for detection of Haemophilus influenzae type b antigens in cerebrospinal fluid.
Cerebrospinal fluid specimens from patients with suspected meningitis were screened with the Phadebact Haemophilus Test (Pharmacia Diagnostics), with Bactogen (Wampole Laboratories), and by counterimmunoelectrophoresis. With culture-positive fluids, Phadebact coagglutination detected 95%, Bactogen latex agglutination detected 91%, and counterimmunoelectrophoresis detected only 79%. Both agglutination techniques were 25-fold more sensitive than counterimmunoelectrophoresis when tested with dilutions of positive fluids. To obtain specific reactions with the Phadebact reagents it was necessary to heat treat (95 degrees C, 5 min) the fluid; with Bactogen and counterimmunoelectrophoresis this was not necessary.
D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D003378:Counterimmunoelectrophoresis; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D008583:Meningitis, Haemophilus / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D011933:Reagent Kits, Diagnostic