PASSIVE HAEMAGGLUTINATION TEST FOR HUMAN NEUROCYSTICERCOSIS IMMUNODIAGNOSIS. I. STANDARDIZATION AND EVALUATION OF THE PASSIVE HAEMAGGLUTINATION TEST FOR THE DETECTION OF ANTI-Cysticercus cellulosae

A p a s s i v e h a e m a g g l u t i n a t i o n tes t ( P H A ) for h u m a n n e u r o c y s t i c e r c o s i s w a s s t a n d a r d i z e d a n d e v a l u a t e d for the de tec t i on of spec i f i c a n t i b o d i e s to C y s t i c e r c u s c e l l u losae i n c e r e b r o s p i n a l f l u id ( C S F ) . F o r the a s s a y , f o r m a l d e h y d e t r e a t e d g r o u p O R h h u m a n red ce l l s c o a t e d w i t h the c y s t i c e r c i c r u d e to ta l s a l i n e e x t r a c t ( T S ) a n t i g e n were e m p l o y e d . A to ta l of 115 C S F s a m p l e s f rom p a t i e n t s w i t h n e u r o c y s t i c e r c o s i s w a s a n a l y s e d , of these 94 p resen ted reac t i v i t y , c o r r e s p o n d i n g to 81.7% sens i t i v i t y , i n w h i c h c o n f i d e n c e l i m i t of 95% p r o b a b i l i t y ( C L 9 5 % ) r a n g e d f rom 74.5% to 88.9%. E i g h t y n i n e C S F s a m p l e s d e r i v e d f rom i n d i v i d u a l s of con t ro l g r o u p p resen ted as n o n r e a c t i v e i n 94.4% ( C L 9 5 % f r om 89.6% to 99.2%). T h e p o s i t i v e a n d n e g a t i v e p red ic t i ve v a l u e s were 1.4% a n d 99.9%, r espec t i ve l y , c o n s i d e r i n g the m e a n ra te of t ha t t h i s a s s a y p r o v i d e a r a p i d , h i g h l y r e p r o d u c i b l e , a n d m o d e r a t e l y s e n s i t i v e m e a n of de tec t i ng spec i f i c a n t i b o d i e s i n C S F s a m p l e s .