Advantage of Latex Agglutination Over Countercurrent Immunoelectrophoresis in the Detection of Haemophilus influenzae Type b Antigen in Serum
Detection of bacterial antigens has proved to be a valuable adjunct to early diagnosis of certain invasive infections. In the case of Haemophilus influenzae type b infections, capsular polysaccharide antigen (PRP) has been detected by a variety of techniques including countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis (CIE),1-3 latex particle agglutination (LPA),3,4 radioimmunoassay,5 and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).6,7 There have been few prospective comparisons3,7,8 by which to establish the sensitivities and idiosyncrasies of these techniques. This report compares the two simplest techniques, CIE and LPA, in children with H influenzae b infections, drawing attention to a shortcoming of CIE in those with nonmeningeal infections. METHODS
Comparison of counter-current immunoelectrophoresis, latex agglutination, and radioimmunoassay in detection of soluble capsular polysaccharide antigens of Haemophilus influenzae type b and Neisseria meningitidis of groups A or C.
