title: Comparative evaluation of the Rose Bengal plate test, standard tube agglutination test and complement fixation test for the diagnosis of human brucellosis.
abstract: In this study, 241 serum samples from individuals exposed to brucellosis were subjected to the Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT); the titre was estimated by standard tube agglutination test (STAT), with positive > or = 80 IU/ml. Randomly selected sera (n = 81) were analysed by complement fixation test (CFT): titre > or = 1:4 was considered positive. Of 241 sera subjected to RBPT and STAT, 177 were negative in both tests; 5 samples tested negative by RBPT but positive by STAT. None was positive by RBPT and negative by STAT. Of 81 sera subjected to CFT, 23 (28.4%) were positive. Both RBPT and CFT found 18 samples positive; 5 samples were positive by CFT and negative by RBPT. Comparison of STAT with CFT showed 13 samples positive by STAT but negative by CFT, and 4 positive by CFT but negative by STAT. The sensitivity and specificity of STAT were 82.6% and 77.6%, respectively, with CFT as gold standard. No test is perfect, and the clinical history coupled with a combination of two or more tests will reduce diagnostic errors.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, Jimma University, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, P.O. Box 307, Jimma, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yohannes
authors.forename: J P S
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghatak
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tolosa
mesh_terms: D000372:Agglutination Tests / Q000592:standards*; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D002002:Brucella / Q000276:immunology; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003168:Complement Fixation Tests / Q000592:standards*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006801:Humans; D012395:Rose Bengal; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D012395:Rose Bengal