Detection of campylobacter by immunofluorescence in stools and rectal biopsies of patients with diarrhoea.

Rabbit antiserum, elicited by the intravenous injection of a strain of Campylobacter jejuni heated to 100 degrees C, cross reacted strongly with all other thermophilic campylobacters tested as well as with "C pyloridis" and could be detected by indirect fluorescence with labelled anti-rabbit serum. Antisera to formalin killed cells did not do so. The correlation of positive stool culture with positive immunofluorescence of stools and rectal biopsies from patients with diarrhoea was 70-80%. Some inconsistent, weak reactions showing differently shaped organisms have been seen with some strains of Bacteroides fragilis. Wolinella spp reacted weakly, but one strain of Vibrio cholerae tested did not. Other intestinal organisms, commensals, and pathogens tested were negative.