[Combined use of rose Bengal and indirect immunofluorescence in the diagnosis of brucellosis].

In the present prospective study we have evaluated the sensitivity, specificity and predictive value of the Bengal rose and indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) in 122 patients with a bacteriological diagnosis of brucellosis. The sensitivity of the Bengal rose was 95.79% and its specificity 98.43%. IIF had a sensitivity of 68.80% and a specificity of 100% when the polyvalent anti-IgS conjugate was used. The combined parallel use of Bengal rose and IIF-IgS resulted in a sensitivity of 89.17% and a specificity of 100%. There was a good correlation between Bengal rose and serum agglutination test (r = 0.72); on the contrary, there were not good correlations between the fluorescent conjugates and Bengal rose, agglutination and Coombs test. In conclusion, the combined use of Bengal rose as a screening test and IIF as a confirmation study is a good diagnostic strategy for human brucellosis.