Comparison of four methods for screening of cytomegalovirus antibodies in normal donors and immunocompromised patients.

Three commercial methods (enzyme immunoassay, fluoroimmunoassay and latex agglutination) and a complement fixation test were compared for detection of cytomegalovirus antibodies using a panel of 490 serum samples from blood and organ donors, from immunocompromised patients and paired sera from five patients with recent cytomegalovirus infection. An indirect immunofluorescence test for antibodies to cytomegalovirus was used for classifying samples giving discrepant results by any of the four methods. All methods showed high sensitivity and specificity, but the enzyme immunoassay and the latex agglutination tests had the highest sensitivity. Latex agglutination is recommended for large-scale screening of cytomegalovirus antibodies in blood and organ donors. Negative results obtained by latex agglutination should be confirmed by sensitive enzyme immunoassays.