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  • Title: A comparison of indirect immunofluorescence and radioimmunoassay for detecting antibody to varicella-zoster virus.
    Author: Campbell-Benzie A, Heath RB, Ridehalgh MK, Cradock-Watson JE.
    Journal: J Virol Methods; 1983 Mar; 6(3):135-40. PubMed ID: 6306029.
    Abstract:
    Immunofluorescence (IF) and radioimmunoassay (RIA) were found to be more sensitive methods than complement fixation (CF) for detecting antibody to varicella-zoster (V-Z) virus. RIA yielded titres about 30 times greater than those obtained by IF, but for screening purposes RIA was only about six times more sensitive since the minimum serum dilutions that could be tested were 1/100 and 1/16 respectively. When 539 sera from subjects of different ages were screened for V-Z antibody, IF and RIA gave concordant results with 527 specimens (98%). When 19 patients were tested who had not previously had varicella but were experiencing primary infection with herpes simplex (HS) virus, crossreacting antibodies to V-Z antigens were detected in six patients by IF but in only two of these by RIA. IF and RIA are preferable to CF as tests for immune status because of their greater sensitivity, but weak positive reactions caused by presumptive low titres of homologous antibody or by higher titres of heterologous antibody can occur in one or both tests. Such reactions could cause difficulty in assessing the need for vaccine or for specific immune globulin, and in interpreting the response to vaccination.
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