A new whole cell agglutination test for active tuberculosis, for which encouraging results have recently been reported, has been carried out on the serum of 112 subjects. The results have been disappointing; the test had no predictive value in the diagnosis of active tuberculosis.

A latex particle agglutination test previously shown to be suitable for the rapid identification of Escherichia coli strains of human origin producing heat-labile enterotoxin (R. A. Finkelstein and Z. Yang, J. Clin. Microbiol. 18:23-28) is equally applicable to strains of porcine origin.

Measurement of von Willebrand factor antigen (VWF : Ag) levels is usually performed in a specialised laboratory which limits its application in routine clinical practice. So far, no commercial rapid test kit is available for VWF : Ag estimation. This paper discusses the technical aspect of latex agglutination method which was established to suit the purpose of estimating von Willebrand factor (...

In order to demonstrate that cells of Candida spp. may show considerable nonspecific agglutination in latex agglutination tests, 150 clinical and reference isolates of 12 yeast species were systematically studied by applying various test parameters. In fact, 40 (26.7%) of these isolates revealed nonspecific results, significantly associated with the time allowed for agglutination.

A latex particle agglutination test is described which is suitable for the recognition of heat-labile enterotoxin-producing colonies of Escherichia coli immediately after primary culture on a variety of commonly used enteric diagnostic media. The test is simple and economical to perform, and the results are available in minutes.

The antigenic characteristics of five species of Bacteroides were determined by agglutination tests. No cross-reactivity among the species was observed.

The prevalence of antibody to six serovars of Leptospira interrogans in cattle in Asturias (Northern Spain) was determined by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT). Using 50% agglutination or lysis at a dilution of 1:10 or more as the criteria for seropositivity, 371 of 3578 (10.36%) animals were found to react with one serovar. The most commonly detected serovars were pomona (5.59%) and gri...

Brucellosis and Dengue fever can present with acute febrile illness with other nonspecific symptoms and share common haematological and biochemical abnormalities making their clinical differentiation a diagnostic challenge. We present two cases admitted with acute febrile illness and other nonspecific symptoms. In both patients diagnosis of brucellosis was confirmed by positive blood culture an...