One of the most practical routine tests for convergence of a positive series makes use of the ratio test. If this test fails, we can use Rabbe's test. When Rabbe's test fails the next sharper criteria which may sometimes be used is the Bertrand's test. If this test fails, we can use a generalization of Bertrand's test and such tests can be continued innitely. For simplicity, we call ratio test,...

Use of the Vi agglutination test in the detection of chronic carriers of Salmonella typhi (S. typhosa) first was suggested by Felix et al. (1935). Since that time study of the test by many workers has resulted in the accumulation of a voluminous literature which has been reviewed by Klein (1943), Felix (1951), Landy and Lamb (1953), and Spaun (1957). Bhatnagar et al. (1938) recommended the use ...

We evaluated the Binax NOW Streptococcus pneumoniae urinary antigen assay by testing 210 healthy children aged 2--60 months living in urban slums of Quito, Ecuador. Healthy children with nasopharyngeal carriage of S. pneumoniae were significantly more likely to have positive urinary antigen test results than were children who were not carriers (30 of 138 vs. 3 of 71 children; chi2=10.8; P<.001)...

Despite showing promise in preclinical models, anti-Staphylococcus aureus vaccines have failed in clinical trials. To date, approaches have focused on neutralizing/opsonizing antibodies; however, vaccines exclusively inducing cellular immunity have not been studied to formally test whether a cellular-only response can protect against infection. We demonstrate that nasal vaccination with targete...

Background: Streptococcus agalactiae is the main causal pathogen of bovine mastitis (BM), causing considerable economic loss to the dairy industry worldwide. Vaccines against S. agalactiae play an important role in preventing disease. Aims: The aim of this study was to evaluate the immunoprotection of S. agalactiae pilus isla...

It was during the 1950's that the development of flow cytometry started, technology that allow to measure physiochemical characteristics of cells or suspended particles in fluid. This technology uses monoclonal antibodies labeled by fluorochromes as investigation tool in several analysis and needs isotype controls to define the negative region (background). These controls are constituted by imm...

A competitive inhibition enzyme immunoassay for the detection of Streptococcus pyogenes directly from throat specimens or from solid bacteriological medium is described. Group A-specific polysaccharide adsorbed onto treated polystyrene beads, in conjunction with rabbit antibody to S. pyogenes, was used to determine the presence of the polysaccharide antigen. Inhibition values in excess of 65% w...

BACKGROUND Point-of-care (POC) tests for diagnosing schistosomiasis include tests based on circulating antigen detection and urine reagent strip tests. If they had sufficient diagnostic accuracy they could replace conventional microscopy as they provide a quicker answer and are easier to use. OBJECTIVES To summarise the diagnostic accuracy of: a) urine reagent strip tests in detecting active ...

BACKGROUND The diagnosis of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) caused by Trypanosoma brucei gambiense relies mainly on the Card Agglutination Test for Trypanosomiasis (CATT). There is no immunodiagnostic for HAT caused by T. b. rhodesiense. Our principle aim was to develop a prototype lateral flow test that might be an improvement on CATT. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPLE FINDINGS Pools of infection an...