PubMed · 6080084
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O P Salo, V Valtonen, A Jokipii, K Aho. 1967. Quantitative Reiter protein complement-fixation test.. https://doi.org/10.1136/sti.43.4.264
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AIMS: In April 1991 additional quality control procedures were introduced into the virology section of the Clinical Microbiology and Public Health Laboratory, Cambridge. Internal quality control (IQC) samples were gradually included in the serological assays performed in the laboratory and supplemented kit controls and standard sera. METHODS: From April 1991 to December 1993, 2421 IQC procedures were carried out with reference sera. RESULTS: The IQC samples were evaluated according to the Westgard rules. Violations were recorded in 60 of 1808 (3.3%) controls and were highest in the IQC samples of complement fixation tests (25/312 (8%) of controls submitted for complement fixation tests). CONCLUSIONS: The inclusion of IQC samples in the serological assays performed in the laboratory has highlighted batch to batch variation in commercial assays. The setting of acceptable limits for the IQC samples has increased confidence in the validity of assay results.
The complement fixation (CF) procedure has played a significant role in the diagnosis of infectious diseases for almost a century. It has accomplished this by functioning in serodiagnosis and by antigen identification particularly in clinical virology. Although it has been replaced by newer, more sensitive and rapid techniques for serodiagnosis, the CF assay is still important as a reference standard for clinical laboratories.
Paired serum samples from 93 patients suspected of having measles were assayed for measles virus-specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies by an enzyme immunoassay (EIA), and the results were compared with results from a complement fixation assay and an EIA for measles virus IgG. By using significant serologic rises as the standard for comparison, the IgM EIA assay had a sensitivity of 85.7%, a specificity of 81.3%, a positive predictive value of 95.7%, and a negative predictive value of 54.2%. This assay can be expected to perform well in outbreak situations.