Detection of varicella-zoster antibody by immune adherence hemagglutination test.

ABSTRACT

The immune adherence hemagglutination (IAHA) is a more sensitive and specific test for evaluation of humoral immunity to varicella-zoster virus (VZV) than a conventional complement fixation (CF) test. The equipment, reagents, procedure used in the IAHA are basically the same as those employed in the CF test. After VZ vaccination, seroconversions detected by IAHA test were significantly greater than those by CF test (P less than 0.01, chi 2 test). Moreover, the IAHA titers were higher about 4 times (G.M. 30.9 vs 8.2) and persisted longer than CF titers. Although the IAHA antigen is not a commercial product, the IAHA is sensitive and suitable assay for VZ antibody determination in routine serological laboratory.