Comparison of Phadebact coagglutination, Bactogen latex agglutination, and counterimmunoelectrophoresis for detection of Haemophilus influenzae type b antigens in cerebrospinal fluid.

Cerebrospinal fluid specimens from patients with suspected meningitis were screened with the Phadebact Haemophilus Test (Pharmacia Diagnostics), with Bactogen (Wampole Laboratories), and by counterimmunoelectrophoresis. With culture-positive fluids, Phadebact coagglutination detected 95%, Bactogen latex agglutination detected 91%, and counterimmunoelectrophoresis detected only 79%. Both agglutination techniques were 25-fold more sensitive than counterimmunoelectrophoresis when tested with dilutions of positive fluids. To obtain specific reactions with the Phadebact reagents it was necessary to heat treat (95 degrees C, 5 min) the fluid; with Bactogen and counterimmunoelectrophoresis this was not necessary.