In a comparison of the reverse passive haemagglutination test (RPHA) with the direct immunofluorescent and rapid carbohydrate utilisation tests for the identification of Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolated from clinical specimens, 315 isolates of oxidase-positive Gram-negative diplococci were tested as pure 24-hour-old subcultures and samples from 108 similar organisms were taken directly from prima...

Sera from 536 adults and children in Swaziland were examined for their reactivity in the rapid plasma reagin (RPR) and Treponema pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA) tests. None of 130 sera from children was reactive in either test; 8.6% of sera from 185 healthy adults were reactive in the RPR test and 33% in the TPHA test; 24.5% of 220 sera from patients with genital ulcers were RPR-positive and ...

Routine screening of 404 742 sera by the automated micro-haemagglutination assay (AMHA-TP) and the Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL) test showed that 9848 specimens gave a reactive result to one of the three assays. Reactive results were confirmed by the fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption (FTA-ABS) test. The possibility of false-positive results varied from 0.04-0.38% of all s...

Ten to fifteen percent of patients with myasthenia gavis (MG) have an underlying thymoma. Such patients do less well and it may be important to detect them early. Conventional tests for thymoma such as immunofluorescent demonstration of skeletal muscle antibodies and CT scanning of the anterior mediastinum may give false positive and false negative results. We have attempted to validate a repor...

The first outbreaks of viral haemorrhagic disease (VHD) of rabbits were reported from eastern Slovakia in 1987. In 1988, the infection spread throughout the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic. Electron microscopy was used by the Veterinary Research Institute in Brno to diagnose the disease during the early stage of infection. At present, the regional laboratories of the veterinary investigation ...

Eight viruses isolated in Hong Kong were shown to be serologically related. One was obtained from the tracheal swab of a chicken and four were from cloacal swabs of ducks sampled at a poultry dressing plant. Three isolations were made from samples taken at a duck farm: two from pond water and one from faeces. Representatives of these isolates were shown to be paramyxoviruses but were serologica...

The prevalence of antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii and Chlamydia psittaci was assessed in goats with a history of abortion, stillbirth and neonatal mortality. Antibodies were detected in 540 (30%) and 57 (3.2%) goats out of 1799 tested by indirect haemagglutination and complement fixation tests, respectively. Toxoplasma gondii was isolated for the first time in Botswana from 22 out of 81 sets (2...