Immune adherence hemagglutination test applied to the study of herpes simplex and varicella-zoster virus infections

Abstract

The immune adherence hemagglutination (IAHA) test was used successfully to detect antibody to herpes simplex (HS) virus and varicella-zoster (V-Z) virus. Comparative studies between the complement-fixation (CF) test and the IAHA test revealed that, in most cases, the IAHA test was more sensitive than the CF test. Diagnosis on the basis of a 4-fold change in antibody titer was made more rapidly by the IAHA test. The IAHA test was a very simple and practical technique requiring only a few hours for completion compared with the conventional CF test which required up to 24 h. Sera and CSF could be tested in very low dilutions in the IAHA test, so that very low levels of antibody could be detected. The IAHA test detected antibody to V-Z virus more frequently than did the CF test in adults with a history of varicella occurring 9-30 yr prior to sampling. The level of cross-reaction between HS and V-Z viruses was examined by the CF test and the IAHA test, and no major differences between the 2 techniques were found.