AN INDIRECT HAEMAGGLUTINATION TEST FOR DEMONSTRATION OF GONOCOCCAL ANTIBODIES USING GONOCOCCAL PILI AS ANTIGEN:

Abstract

An indirect haemagglutination (IHA) test for detection of gonococcal antibodies in human sera was established using purified pili as antigen. The majority of sera (44/51), positive in the gonococcal complement fixation test, were also positive in the IHA test with titres within the range 320-10,000. The results obtained for the following three groups of sera indicate a comparatively high speicificity of the IHA test; 1) 52 sera from children below 12 years of age were all negative, 2) 98% (184/188) of sera from blood donors were negative, 3) only sera from three adults out of 21 patients with meningococcal infections gave a positive reaction.