title: Latex agglutination and indirect immunofluorescence tests in the diagnosis of Toxoplasma gondii in Saudi Arabia.
abstract: Commercial latex agglutination (LA) was assessed for Toxoplasma antibody screening. The sensitivity and specificity were compared with the reference standard indirect immunofluorescence (IFA). A total of 186 sera were collected from May 2008-October 2008 for Toxoplasma antibody by LA & IFA. Antibody to T. gondii 51/186 (27.4%) were LA-positive and 42/186 (22.6%) were IFA-positive. The sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value of LA were 100%, 93.7% & 82.3% respectively. The nine LA-false positive sera were examined for rheumatoid factor and antinuclear antibodies, but were negative and none exhibited nonspecific polar staining as a cause for the false positivity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Dawoud
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Ageely
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: El Shake
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Heiba
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005189:False Positive Reactions; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007841:Latex Fixation Tests; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology