A Serologic Study ofHerellea vaginicolaand Its Identification by Immunofluorescent Staining

Abstract

A serologic basis for the identification of Herellea vaginicola and its differentiation from Mima polymorpha was presented. The validity of this serologic typing was confirmed on the basis of a small number of physiologic tests given in this paper. Thus, the immediate need of the clinical laboratory for simple diagnostic methods to differentiate Herellea from Mima and other related organisms is met. Fluorescent antibody (FA) serotyping, with the current number of types, provided a rapid means of identifying 79% of all Herellea examined. Serotyping may prove useful in future epidemiologic studies. Twenty-eight serotypes of Herellea were established, using FA and Quellung reagents. Both tests were based on the detection of specific capsular antigens rather than on a mixture of capsular and broadly reactive somatic antigens. Serotyping with FA reagents proved to be a specific test and a simple one to interpret. Fluorescent antibody typing indicated that Herellea capsular antigens were, with very few exceptions, unrelated to those of Mima polymorpha. Agglutination tests, upon which most previous studies were based, were totally unreliable for separating the two genera. When accompanied by more sophisticated physiologic testing, FA typing may assist materially in the classification of the bacteria which make up the species Herellea vaginicola, Mima polymorpha, and related species or genera.