Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and hemagglutination methods were compared using mycobacterial glycolipids as antigens. Both methods were found to have equivalent specificity and sensitivity in detecting mycobacterial diseases. Both tests had 96% specificity; the sensitivity of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was 86%, and that of the hemagglutination test was 88.6%.

An indirect hemagglutination test has been adapted for use with varicella-zoster serology. Antigen was made in infected WI-38 human diploid cell line. The indirect hemagglutination antigen seemed to be a subunit of the virus particle. The antibodies measured in the test are well correlated with neutralizing and complement-fixing antibodies in cases of zoster but not in cases of varicella.

Three serological procedures, the agar-gel precipitin inhibition, the complement fixation, and the indirect hemagglutination tests, were used to detect and measure antibody to Yersinia pestis in the sera from 383 individuals. Although all three tests were useful in detecting plague antibody, the most reliable and sensitive test procedure was indirect hemagglutination.

Goose erythrocytes preserved with glutaraldehyde were compared with fresh cells in hemagglutination and hemagglutination-inhibition tests for arbovirus antigens and antibodies. The glutaraldehyde-fixed cells were as sensitive and specific as theresh erythrocytes and were stable at 4 degrees C for 6 months.

Five erythrocyte species (horse, goose, chicken, guinea pig, and human) were used to agglutinate avian influenza H5N1 viruses by hemagglutination assay and to detect specific antibody by hemagglutination inhibition test. We found that goose erythrocytes confer a greater advantage over other erythrocyte species in both assays.

3. Pushpa V, Sheila M. Dengue hemorrhagic fever in Madras, 1989. (Unpub lished data). 4. darker DH, Casal J. Technique for hemagglutination and hemagglutination inhibition with nrthropod borne viruses. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1958, 7: 561-567. 5. Manchni G, Carbonara AO, Hereonara JF. Immunochemical quantitation of antigens by single radial immune diffusion. Int J Immunochemical 1965, 2: 235-254.

A new diluent (ADGP) for the rubella virus hemagglutination (HA) and hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) tests is described. It was found that the HA and HI titers and the erythrocyte agglutination pattern were improved in ADGP compared to previously described diluents. The influence of the components of ADGP and of various test conditions on optimal HA and HI results were examined.

Like enteroviruses, hepatitis A virus (HAV) hemagglutinated various species of erythrocytes under similar conditions. HAV-specific antibodies in both acute- and convalescent-phase sera were found to inhibit hemagglutination. The HAV hemagglutination inhibition test can be used for diagnosis, epidemiological surveillance, and vaccine assessment.

Indirect immunofluorescence and hemagglutination study of reactivity to human cytomegalovirus immediate early, early, and late antigens revealed that antibody responses to these antigens varies greatly and that hemagglutination is positive when sera contain only antibody to one or both early antigens.

Visna virus particles inhibit influenza virus hemagglutination in an assay for neuraminic acid-containing viruses. Pretreatment of visna virus with neuraminidase abolished hemagglutination inhibition activity but did not significantly affect attachment, infectivity, or virus-induced cell fusion in sheep choroid plexus cell monolayers.