La prueba de hemoaglutinación para el diagnóstico de la peste

Abstract

This article contains a detailed account of the procedures used at the Institute of Microbiology of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the hemagglutination test for the diagnosis of plague. Descriptions are given of the procedures used for suspect sera, sheep erythrocytes, adsorption of antigens to erythrocytes, and the bases for the interpretation of the results of the test. There are two annexes, one of which contains a description of the technique used for formalinizing erythrocytes, and the other contains the formula for modified Alsever solution. The author is of the opinion that this article will be of use, especially to laboratories which do not have adequate bibliographical resources, because despite the fact that outbreaks of plague in recent years have aroused the interest of some research workers, and that the last outbreak (1964-1965) coincided with the improvement of diagnostic methods, it seems that those methods have still not been used extensively