In two recent articles in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Qian et al. (4) and Lagace-Wiens et al. (2) describe a direct coagulase and a thermostable DNase test, respectively, for direct identification of Staphylococcus aureus from positive blood culture bottles. In a prospective study from April 2003 until February 2004, we investigated the accuracy of the Slidex Staph Plus agglutination ...

Following the outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in Stafford in 1985, 500 serum samples were submitted to the indirect immunofluorescence antibody test and a latex agglutination. Latex agglutination using ultrasonically disrupted Legionella pneumophila antigens coupled to latex particles, proved a rapid, simple method for detecting circulating antibodies to L pneumophila in a one minute slide la...

Volunteer blood donors are screened for hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection by various immunoassay methods in Turkey. The risk of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) negative and positive nucleic acid amplification technology (NAT) samples is not clearly understood yet. The purpose of this study is to screen for such donors in Turkey by a comm...

OBJECTIVE To compare the performance of the direct agglutination test and rK39 dipstick for the diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis. DATA SOURCES Medline, citation tracking, January 1986 to December 2004. Selection criteria Original studies evaluating the direct agglutination test or the rK39 dipstick with clinical visceral leishmaniasis as target condition; adequate reference classification;...

A new slide latex agglutination test was compared with microscopy and culture for diagnosing vaginal candidosis in 367 women attending a genitourinary medicine clinic. Vaginal candidosis occurred in 10% of the patients, and 7% had commensal carriage of Candida spp. The slide latex agglutination test was superior to microscopy in immediate diagnosis and was rapid and simple to perform. Of the pa...