Agglutination Test For Diagnosis Research Articles

Comparison of the Rose Bengal Plate and the Complement Fixation Tests with the Tube Agglutination Test for Diagnosis of Human Brucellosis

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease of economic importance. The clinical manifestations vary in humans; therefore a good diagnostic test is required to confirm the disease. The serum tube agglutination (SA) test, though still the most widely test used, can be problematic for the diagnosis of chronic infections. The other supplementary tests, such as the complement fixation (CF) test and ELISA, require special equipment, reagents and trained personnel. The Rose Bengal plate (RBP) test has shown potential as a good rapid diagnostic test. This is a report of serum samples from suspected cases of brucellosis that were tested using the RBP, SA and CF tests. The RBP test was shown to have a better relative sensitivity and as good specificity as the SA when compared with the CF test, and may be a useful initial diagnostic test for hospitals in remote rural areas if properly conducted with well stored antigen.

Diagnostic value of latex agglutination test in diagnosis of acute bacterial meningitis

Objectives:To know the incidence of bacterial meningitis in children below five years of age. To compare conventional culture and antigen detection methods (Latex agglutination test).Materials and Methods:100 CSF samples of clinically suspected meningitis cases in children below 5 years of age were included. The samples were subjected to cell count, Gram stain, culture and LAT. The organisms isolated in the study were characterized according to standard procedures.Results:Of the 100 cases studied, 31 cases were diagnosed as ABM by Gram stain, culture and latex agglutination test as per WHO criteria. The hospital frequency of ABM was 1.7%. 15 (48.38) cases were culture positive. Gram stain was positive in 22(70.96) cases and LAT in 17(54.83) cases. Haemophilus influenzae was the most common causative agent of acute bacterial meningitis followed by S.pneumoniae. Case fatality rate was 45.16%. The sensitivity and specificity of LAT was 66.66% and 87.91% respectively.Conclusion:Bacterial meningitis is a medical emergency and early diagnosis and treatment is life saving and reduces chronic morbidity. LAT was more sensitive compared to conventional Gram stain and Culture technique in identifying the fastidious organisms like H.influenzae, S.pneumoniae and Group B Streptococcus. However, the combination of Gram stain, Culture and LAT proved to be more productive than any of the single tests alone.

Interpreting widal agglutination test in diagnosis of typoid fever

Interpreting widal agglutination test in diagnosis of typoid fever

New tests for diagnosis of leishmaniasis

A highly sensitive PCR-based diagnostic test and a Latex agglutination test for diagnosis of Leishmania have been reported recently. The PCR test, under optimal conditions, can detect as few as ten parasites per ml of human blood (L. Lachaud et al. J. Clin. Microbiol. 39, 613–617, 2001). Four methods of lysis-DNA extraction of whole and buffy coat blood preparations were compared to reach this conclusion. The new Latex agglutination test (KATEX) for detection of leishmanial antigens in the urine of infected patients has been developed by Z.J. Attar et al. (Acta Trop. 78, 11–16, 2001). This test is reported to have 100% specificity, and sensitivity between 68 and 100%. Using human samples, KATEX performed better than any single serological test in predicting Leishmania positivity. SHK

Kala-azar: a comparative study of parasitological methods and the direct agglutination test in diagnosis

In a comparative study 88 patients were diagnosed as suffering from kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis) using 3 parasitological methods simultaneously. Splenomegaly was absent in 4 cases. In 84 patients with splenomegaly, splenic aspiration appeared to be the most sensitive method (96.4%), followed by bone marrow aspiration (70.2%) and lymph node aspiration (58.3%). There was no relation between titres in the direct agglutination test and parasite load as determined by the number of parasitological methods which were positive or parasite density in splenic aspirates. Splenic aspiration and bone marrow aspiration were compared as an assessment of cure in kala-azar. In 6 (13%) of 46 patients tested, parasites were found, all by splenic aspiration. Bone marrow showed parasites in one of these. The literature with regard to parasitological investigations before and after treatment is reviewed.

Evaluation of the Ramco latex agglutination test in the early diagnosis of systemic candidiasis.

The value of the Ramco latex agglutination test in the diagnosis of systemic candidiasis was determined using 225 serum samples from 30 patients with systemic candidiasis, 81 serum samples from patients colonized with Candida albicans and 400 control serum samples from hospital patients with no evidence of Candida albicans infection. Results were positive (titres greater than or equal to 1:4) in 20 of the patients with systemic candidiasis; ten had titres of 1:8. Only one of the 81 sera from colonized patients was positive (titre greater than 1:4); this serum came from a patient with colonization of the intravenous catheter. No positive results (titres greater than 1:2) were obtained in the control sera once rheumatoid factor was excluded. The test reliably differentiated between colonization and systemic infection but failed to detect some cases of systemic infection. A poor detection rate was seen in cases where only one serum sample was taken. The importance of taking daily serum samples for continuous monitoring is emphasised. Rheumatoid factor positivity and intravenous line colonization should be excluded when interpreting a result.

The use of spleen antigen in the tube agglutination test for diagnosis of anaplasmosis in cattle.

An antigen was prepared from the spleen of an infected bovine calf and was used in the tube agglutination test. Cases having rare and very low parasitaemia as well as the carrier cases were detected by this procedure and no non-specific reaction was observed with other haemoprotozoan infections. The maximum titre obtained with the Anplasma positive sera was 1:20, about 60 per cent showed a titre of 1:10 and 90 per cent showed a titre of 1:5 or more. The test provided satisfactory results in detecting the cases even at the early phase of the infection. The test also proved useful in judging the efficacy of a drug employed to destroy the carrier status.

Kaolin agglutination test in diagnosis of tuberculosis in Kenya

Summary The kaolin agglutination test (KAT) has been applied in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in Kenya, East Africa. The test was positive in as many as 79·2% of tuberculosis patients with a positive sputum, with an antibody titre of from 1/8 to 1/512. No special correlation was found between antibody titre and duration of disease, age, sex and drug sensitivity of Myco. tuberculosis excreted by patients. The control group was made up of people free from tuberculosis, as shown by x-ray and bacteriological examination. Only 22 (15%) out of 143 reacted positively, showing the low range of phosphatide antibody. These results suggest that the phosphatide KAT may be considered as a specific method for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis among African patients. The only surprising result was the high percentage of positives among the healthy tuberculin-negative subjects—a factor worthy of further study and explanation. Because of the technical advantages of the kaolin agglutination test and mainly because of its simplicity, this reaction may be considered a convenient serological method under field conditions; but it requires further investigation before final conclusions can be reached.