Abstract
To the Editor.— In a recent letter in the Oct 30, 1972, issue ofThe Journalentitled "False-Positive Monospot Test Result in Rubella," Dr. Phillips made an error concerning the heterophil antibody titer. The serum of his patient showed heterophil antibodies at a titer of 1:14 after guinea pig absorption and 1:28 nonabsorbed. He concluded that these levels do not permit the diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis. Davidsohn and Lee 1 have pointed out that "when the unabsorbed sheep agglutinin titer is 28, any incomplete removal with guinea pig kidney and complete removal with beef erythrocytes is interpreted as positive evidence of infectious mononucleosis." The peripheral blood findings in the case presented do not support the diagnosis of infectious mononucleosis; however, I do not know the effect of the rubella virus on the leukocyte response in infectious mononucleosis. A false-positive result in a differential Paul-Bunnel-Davidsohn test has been reported in patients with
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