Micro indirect hemagglutination test for Cytomegalovirus.

In an effort to obtain the flexibility and ease of performance of a rapid, serological test for detection of cytomegalovirus antibody, the indirect hemagglutination (IHA) technique was investigated by using a microserological system. Antigens were prepared from tissue cultures of infected human fibroblasts. The specificity of the cytomegalovirus antibody response detected by the IHA test correlated well with the standard neutralization test. The IHA method was more sensitive than the complement fixation test in detecting antibody in congenitally infected newborns. There appeared to be some heterologous antibody response with Herpesvirus hominis or varicella virus infections. The IHA test pattern was found to be very stable with excellent persistence of agglutination.