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The Diagnosis of Pneumococcal Chest Infection by Counter‐Current‐Immunoelectrophoresis
Author(s) -
SANDS R. L.,
GREEN I. D.
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
journal of applied bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 0021-8847
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1980.tb04722.x
Subject(s) - sputum , pneumococcal pneumonia , pneumonia , medicine , streptococcus pneumoniae , immunology , counterimmunoelectrophoresis , immunoelectrophoresis , antigen , clinical diagnosis , pneumococcal infections , intensive care medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , pathology , biology , tuberculosis , antibiotics
A simple, inexpensive method of counter‐current‐immunoelectrophoresis was used to detect pneumococcal antigens in sputum, serum and pleural fluid. Antigens were detected in sputa from 69% of subjects with pneumococcal pneumonia and there was a good correlation with the certainty of the clinical diagnosis. Serum antigens were found in 12.5% of subjects with either a definite or a presumed diagnosis and in one case from a patient who was not thought to have pneumococcal pneumonia. The pathogenic importance of antigens in the sputa of patients with a history of chronic respiratory disease was uncertain. Counter‐current‐immunoelectrophoresis was more sensitive than routine bacteriological methods for demonstrating the presence of pneumococci in pleural fluids.