Rapid immunoenzymatic technique for titration of rabies antibodies IgG and IgM results

Abstract

Techniques usually employed for the detection of rabies' antibodies are costly, time consuming, and sometimes fail to detect early antibodies. The introduction of immunoenzymatic techniques in the serology of viral disease represents a new and important advance. We therefore adapted this technique to the detection of rabies antibodies. We have found that the sera from rabies patients who had not received antirabies treatment do not show seroneutralizing antibodies until several days after the onset of symptoms. However, antibodies can be detected some days earlier by the immunoenzymatic method in the same samples. Furthermore, the immunoenzymatic test was applied to the detection of both the IgM or the IgG class of antirabies antibodies using an antihuman Ig-or antihuman IgG-peroxydase conjugate.