IgM antibody capture haemadherence test (MACHAT) for the detection of measles specific IgM.
An antibody capture haemadherence test (MACHAT) for detecting measles-specific IgM is described. The assay is based on the antibody capture principle with rhesus monkey erythrocytes as detector system in place of labelled antisera. MACHAT was compared with a commercial indirect enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for measles-specific IgM using 382 sera from patients notified as measles. There was good agreement between the two tests; 106 sera were found to contain measles IgM by both tests, 7 further sera were positive only in the commercial EIA and 9 only in MACHAT. One sera gave an equivocal result in MACHAT and another in the commercial EIA. Twelve of the 18 sera with discrepant results were also tested by MACRIA; in 7 MACRIA gave the same results as MACHAT, in 3 the MACRIA results agreed with the commercial test and in 2 the MACRIA results were equivocal. Specificity was established by a lack of MACHAT reactivity in sera collected from blood donors (n = 83) and from cases of recent rubella, dengue and parvovirus B19 infection (n = 51). The MACHAT is a simple, cheap test that can be read by eye and is suitable for measles surveillance programmes in the developing world.
Siqueira
M M
MM
Depto. de Virologia, IOC/FIOCRUZ, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Ferro
Z A
ZA
Cohen
B J
BJ
Brown
D W
DW
Nascimento
J P
JP
D006383:Hemadsorption Inhibition Tests; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood*; D008457:Measles / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology*; D008459:Measles virus / Q000276:immunology*
D007075:Immunoglobulin M