Comparison of enzyme-immunoassay and radioimmunoassay for detection of human rotaviruses and adenoviruses from stool specimens.

An enzyme-immunoassay (EIA) using polystyrene beads as the solid phase, guinea pig anti-rotavirus or anti-adenovirus immunoglobulin as primary antibody, rabbit anti-rotavirus or anti-adenovirus immunoglobulin as secondary antibody, and horseradish peroxidase-conjugated swine anti-rabbit immunoglobulin as indicator antibody, has been developed for the detection of human rotavirus and adenovirus antigens from stool specimens. A comparison of the developed EIA and radioimmunoassay (RIA) used previously in our laboratory was made with 250 stool specimens from children with acute gastroenteritis. Two specimens were found negative by both rotavirus and adenovirus EIAs but not by RIAs, but in each of these cases confirmatory EIA tests showed them to be false negatives. The confirmatory EIA tests were also necessary in several cases to prove the specificity of the binding or to eliminate non-specific reactions with specimens giving low positive reactions in EIA. The developed EIA was found to be as specific, sensitive and reliable as RIA in the routine diagnosis of rotavirus and adenovirus gastroenteritis provided that appropriate confirmatory tests were included.